The eight young whooping cranes that recently spent 18 days in Alabama are just two flights away from reaching the end of its 90-day migration.

A small group of about 30 people gathered along a rural Chilton County highway to see 8 Whooping cranes flying in formation behind a white ultra-light airplane Thursday December 26, 2013. The migrating birds have been in grounded since December 18th due to weather conditions on their way Florida. (Frank Couch/fcouch@al.com)

"I can't think of a better way to ring in the New Year!," said Operation Migration spokesperson Liz Condie.

The birds were in Decatur County, Ga., on Monday after crossing the Alabama border Sunday on their long journey from White River Marsh State Wildlife Area in Green Lake County, Wisc. After a stop on Tuesday in Leon County, Ga., the birds will spend the winter at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge along Florida's gulf coast.

Their aircraft-led migration began Oct. 2.

"With 90 days on the road, the end is in sight with just two flights away from completing our 13th migration," Condie said. "They now have flown at total of about 1,020 miles."

This is the 13th group of birds to take part in a project led by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, an international coalition of public and private groups that is reintroducing this highly imperiled species in eastern North America, part of its historic range.

WCEP partner Operation Migration is using two ultralight aircraft to lead the juvenile cranes through Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia to reach the birds' wintering habitat.

The migrating whooping cranes spent 18 days in Alabama, making five stops during its 324-mile trek across the state. (Contributed by Operation Migration)

Only Illinois calls the birds home more days during the migration than Alabama. This year, the flock spent 24 days in Illinois to traverse 338 miles compared to 18 days covering 324 miles in Alabama.

The public is invited to follow the aircraft-guided Whooping cranes on Operation Migration's live CraneCam, which broadcasts daily during flights and while the cranes are at each stopover location along the route to Florida. Visit: http://www.ustream.tv/migratingcranes to watch the video stream or http://operationmigration.org/InTheField for daily website postings.

Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today, there are only about 600 birds in existence, about 445 of those in the wild.

Aside from the WCEP birds, the only other migratory population of whooping cranes nests at Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta, Canada and winters at Aransas NWR on the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migratory flock of approximately 20 birds lives year-round in the central Florida Kissimmee region, and an additional 33 non-migratory cranes live in southern Louisiana.