Whooping Crane

Grus americana

Order GRUIFORMES - Family GRUIDAE - Subfamily Gruinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The tallest bird in North America, the Whooping Crane was once at the brink of extinction. It is making a steady recovery thanks to intensive management efforts in Canada and the United States, and as of December 2004, 468 Whooping Cranes existed in the wild and in captivity.

Cool Facts

• The population of Whooping Cranes has been rising steadily, at about four percent per year. The population reached 100 in 1987, about 250 in early 1995, and 468 by the end of 2004, with 213 in the wild.
• Whooping Crane recovery efforts involve multiple agencies in the public, private, and nonprofit sector in the United States and Canada. Such efforts include habitat management, captive breeding, and leading birds along migration routes with ultralight aircraft.

• The trachea (windpipe) of the Whooping Crane coils about 23 cm (9 inches) into its sternum (breast bone) while the bird calls, increasing volume and allowing for variation in pitch.

• Whooping Cranes are territorial in both summer and winter, living in family groups. Newly paired cranes often locate their first territory near that of their parents.

• In 1975 in an experimental effort to establish a second migratory wild flock of Whooping Cranes, eggs were transferred to nests of Sandhill Cranes at Gray?s Lake National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Idaho. The Sandhill Crane "foster parents" raised the Whooping Cranes and took them to wintering grounds at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. These cross-fostered cranes, however, failed to form pair bonds with each other, pairing instead with Sandhill Cranes, and also suffered high mortality rates. The program was discontinued in 1989 and no Whooping Cranes survive in this population.

Description

• Size: 150 cm (59 in)
• Wingspan: 229 cm (90 in)
• Weight: 6000-7800 g (211.8-275.34 ounces)

• Very large bird.
• Long neck.
• Long Legs.
• White body.
• Black wingtips.
• Red forehead and cheek.
• Tufted feathers over rump.

• Bill long, straight, and dusky, with pinkish base.
• Legs and neck extended in flight.
• Legs grayish.
• Plumed inner wing feathers conceal short tail on standing bird.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but largely cinnamon-toned, with some white, and without red on head and face.

Similar Species

• Sandhill Crane has gray and rust-colored plumage, not white, with gray primaries, and red only on crown.
• American White Pelican similarly colored, but has black extending along length of wings, and short legs that do not extend beyond the body in flight.
• Snow Goose is smaller, and does not have long bill and long legs extending far behind body in flight.
• Some herons and egrets are white, but are smaller, have completely white wings, and fly with folded necks.

Sound

Call a loud single bugle-like note.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds at Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Introduced population resident in the Kissimmee Prairie of central Florida. Experimental population being established in Wisconsin.

Winter Range

Natural population winters at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on Texas coast. Wisconsin population will winter in Florida.

Habitat

Breeds in freshwater marshes and prairies. Uses grain fields, shallow lakes and lagoons, and saltwater marshes on migration and in winter.

Food

Wide variety of plant and animal matter, including mollusks, crustaceans, insects, fish, frogs, and waste grain.

Behavior

Foraging

Feeds on the ground, pecking, probing, and stabbing food with bill.

Courtship

In courtship, Whooping Cranes perform an elaborate dance display with leaps, sweeps, wing flaps, head tosses, and flinging of light objects such as feathers and grass.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Mound of vegetation with shallow depression on top for eggs, placed on ground in marsh.

Egg Description

Light brown with variable brown blotches.

Clutch Size

Usually 2 eggs. Range: 1-3.

Condition at Hatching

Covered with down and able to walk and swim soon after hatching. Feed themselves within one day.

Conservation Status

Severely endangered. Reduced to 16 individuals in 1941. Captive breeding established a captive population and efforts have been made to establish additional wild populations in Florida and Wisconsin; neither of which is yet self-sustaining. Probably safe from imminent extinction, but threats remain. Limited habitat, though protected, leaves the birds vulnerable to catastrophic weather events or contaminant spills. Development near wintering sites also poses a concern. Collisions with power lines have killed or injured at least 19 Whooping Cranes since 1956. Two Whooping Cranes were shot to death by hunters in Kansas in November 2004, mistaken for Sandhill Cranes, a game species. Continued intensive management of habitat, captive breeding and reintroduction programs, and population monitoring will be essential to the well-being of the species.

Other Names

Grue blanche (French)
Grulla blanca (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

1. International Crane Foundation. 2004. Whooping Crane. http://www.savingcranes.org/species/whooping.cfm.
2. Lewis, J. C. 1995. Whooping Crane (Grus americana). In The Birds of North America, No. 153 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.
3. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. December 1, 2004. Whooping Crane Population Reaches Record High.