Whooping Crane
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? Whooping
Cranes Conservation status:
Endangered
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| Grus
americana Linnaeus, 1758 |
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The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is a very large crane. It is the tallest North American bird.
Adults are white; they have a red crown and a long, dark, pointed bill. They have long dark legs which trail behind in flight and a long neck that is kept straight in flight. Black wing tips can be seen in flight. Immature birds are pale brown.
Their breeding habitat is muskeg; the only known nesting location is Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada and the surrounding area. They nest on the ground, usually on a raised area in a marsh. The female lays 1 to 3 eggs. Both parents feed the young. Usually no more than one young bird survives in a season.
The only known wintering location for these birds is Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas which was created to preserve their wintering grounds.
These birds forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes probing with their bills. They are omnivorous, eating insects, aquatic plants and animals, crustaceans, seeds, and berries.
This species' name comes from its whooping call. The Whooping Crane is endangered mainly as a result of habitat loss. At one time, the range for these birds extended throughout midwestern North America. In 1941, the wild population consisted of 21 birds. Since then, the population has increased somewhat, largely due to conservation efforts. Recent estimates suggest that there are about 200 Whooping Cranes living in the wild, and another 130 living in captivity.
A number of attempts have been made to establish other breeding populations in the wild, some involving Sandhill Cranes (which failed); yearly releases of isolation-reared birds as a non-migrating population in Florida have resulted at least in some few first successful breeding attempts. Due to poor reproduction and excessive predation this project was suspended in Fall 2005.
The isolation rearing of other young Whooping cranes and their training to follow ultralight airplanes has been successful so far; they learn the migration from Wisconsin to Florida and return on their own the following spring. To date there are 41 surviving cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population, migrating from Wisconsin to Florida and back. They are the result of four years of ultralight led migrations by Operation Migration. Fourteen of these birds have formed seven pairs; two of the pairs nested and produced eggs in Summer, 2004. The eggs were lost due to parental inexperience. In the Fall of 2005, 19 more colts were led to Florida. After a period of acclimation they will be released to join the rest of the flock in 2006.