Known As Father Goose, He Was The First To Teach Flocks Of Canadian Geese To Fly Alongside Him Using An Ultralight Aircraft, An Idea That’s Since Helped Preserve Endangered Bird Species
Bill Lishman, often referred to as “Father Goose,” was the first person to teach Canadian geese to fly with him.
He was known for leading flocks of geese with ultralight aircraft, a feat that has helped reintroduce endangered species raised in captivity to their natural migration routes.
Lishman also forever changed our understanding of bird migration and continues to influence conservation efforts today.
His innovative approach even inspired the popular 1996 film Fly Away Home, which was nominated for an Oscar.
The idea of training birds to fly alongside him came to him in the mid-1980s. He had been flying a homemade aircraft when a flock of ducks briefly joined him.
“He came home from that flight just raging. He said nothing before that moment in his life was as meaningful as that moment when he could see a bird in flight, each feather passing over itself when the bird was flapping,” said Lishman’s daughter, Carmen. “The experience was so magical for him, he had to repeat it.”
Lishman knew that goslings imprinted on the first thing they saw when they hatched and believed it to be their parent. So, he hatched goslings on his property so they would imprint on him, his family, and his aircraft.
According to Carmen, they would show the goslings their faces and play the sound of the aircraft’s engine through a tape recorder. When they ran through the forest near their home, the goslings would chase after them.
In 1988, Lishman made his first successful flight with 12 Canadian geese in a V-formation. Then, in 1993, he guided 18 geese from Scugog, Canada, to Virginia.
Olga – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual geese
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Since then, the practice has been adopted by other conservationists and used to help preserve endangered bird species.
In 1994, Lishman and a fellow Canadian named Joe Duff founded Operation Migration to teach captive-bred birds to migrate by following the Cosmos Phase II ultralight aircraft.
Pilots have been able to lead Canadian geese to South Carolina, trumpeter swans to Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, and whooping cranes across the Appalachian Mountains from Wisconsin to Florida.
The pilot has to match the cruising speed of the bird, which varies depending on the species. For example, the whooping crane flies at 38 miles per hour.
There used to be thousands of whooping cranes, but by 1941, only 21 remained. Because of human interference, the species was on the brink of extinction.
Captive breeding, an ultralight aircraft, and reintroduction to the wild were all required to boost the bird’s population.
Since the whooping cranes would be raised in captivity, humans needed to train them to migrate in order for them to survive on their own. The birds would follow the aircraft in the sky just eight weeks after hatching.
The reintroduction program ended in 2016, as it was considered unsustainable. Today, the Cosmos Phases II and other related items are housed in the National Air and Space Museum to showcase how useful aviation was to wildlife conservation.
Lishman, the pioneer of the invention, died in 2017 at the age of 78 after a battle with leukemia. He left a lasting legacy on the natural world.
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