The whooping crane is the tallest bird native to North America, standing up to about 1.5 metres, and one of the rarest, having been reduced to fewer than two dozen individuals in the wild by the 1940s before an intensive, decades-long conservation effort brought the species back from the brink of extinction. It is almost entirely white with black wingtips visible in flight and a red crown on the head, and its loud, bugling call, from which its name derives, can carry for several kilometres across the open wetlands and prairies it favors. Whooping cranes feed on a varied diet including crustaceans, fish, insects, frogs and plant material, and the historic wild population migrates between breeding grounds in northern Canada and wintering grounds on the Texas coast, a journey of thousands of kilometres. Thanks to captive breeding, reintroduction and habitat protection programs, the total population has grown to several hundred birds, but the species remains endangered and depends on continued conservation management.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) System (Realm) Relationship to People Living or ExtinctDerived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status. Scientific Name Conservation Status Population EstimateFigure includes the wild migratory population plus reintroduced flocks and captive individuals as of 2025, not wild individuals alone, per the cited passage. Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceAn adult whooping crane is white with a red crown and a long dark pointed bill and shows black wing tips in flight; immature birds are cinnamon brown, and in flight the long neck is kept straight with the long dark legs trailing behind. 1 Comparison
NatureServe RankG1 Critically Imperiled 4 CITES Appendix Connections
Child Taxon Of
In Biome
Source Whooping Crane (Wikipedia)
Source Whooping Crane (Wikipedia)
In Ecosystem
Source Whooping Crane (Wikipedia)
Source Whooping Crane (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Whooping Crane (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead sentence
The whooping crane (Grus americana) is an endangered crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls.
Description section
An adult whooping crane is white with a red crown and a long, dark, pointed bill. However, immature whooping cranes are cinnamon brown. While in flight, their long necks are kept straight and their long dark legs trail behind. Adult whooping cranes' black wing tips are visible during flight.
Lead section, population sentence
The total number of cranes in the surviving migratory population, plus three reintroduced flocks and in-captivity, is just over 830 birds as of 2025.
- pushed to the brink of extinction by unregulated hunting
- Category: Fauna listed on CITES Appendix I
In Ecosystem: Muskeg, article text (ecosystem), EntityId 279939, target E336457
By the mid-20th century, the muskeg of the taiga in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada, and the surrounding area had become the last remnant of the former nesting habitat of the Whooping Crane Su
In Ecosystem: Siberian Taiga, article text (ecosystem), EntityId 279939, target E266742
By the mid-20th century, the muskeg of the taiga in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada, and the surrounding area had become the last remnant of the former nesting habitat of the Whooping Crane Su
In Biome: Boreal Forest, Distribution and habitat
By the mid-20th century, the muskeg of the taiga in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada, and the surrounding area had become the last remnant of the former nesting habitat of the Whooping Crane Summer Range.
In Biome: Freshwater Marsh, Distribution and habitat
However, the reintroduction in Florida has been halted and is considered a failure as a result of high adult mortality, low juvenile recruitment, and high rates of habitat loss Whooping cranes nest on the ground, usually on a raised area in a marsh.
View the Source 2. EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014)
3. GBIF Species API
4. NatureServe Explorer: Grus americana
NatureServe ExplorerGlobal rank (roundedGRank)Quote, Global rank (roundedGRank)
"roundedGRank": "G1"
5. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Grus americana (Animal Diversity Web)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyConservation Status: CITESQuote, Conservation Status: CITES
CITES Appendix I
Wikidata: Whooping Crane
Wikidata Q457477, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: GruiformesView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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