usgs.gov
The
Whooping Crane is the tallest North American bird, and
also one of its most endangered. At five feet in height,
the mature Whooping Crane is nearly all white, except
for a rust-colored cap and facial stripe. Immatures have
brown feathers on the neck and body.
The
Whooping Cranes breeds in the wild at Wood Buffalo National
Park in northern Manitoba. The entire population (estimated
at about 200), migrates across the Great Plains and winters
at Texas' Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Whooping
Cranes prefer large areas of undisturbed wetlands.
Whooping
Cranes eat Blue Crabs, clams, minnows, small fish, frogs,
berries and some small birds.
Whooping
Cranes have one of the most elaborate courtship displays
in the avian birds that includes wild jumping, gyrating,
bobbing and calling to their mates. The females lays
two large eggs and both adults incubate them. The eggs
hatch at different times. The chick born last is often
pushed out of the nest. For this reason, ornithologists
have begun taking such chicks and depositing them in
the nests of Sandhill Cranes. Chicks can fly three months
after hatching.
Habitat
destruction led to the precipitous decline of the Whooping
Crane. Today, there are three captive populations of
Whooping Cranes that have been raised by scientists.
While Aransas National Park protects Whooping Cranes,
breeding Whoopers at Wood Buffalo remain susceptible
to oil spills from the large number of barges which use
that part of the Hudson Bay. Whooping Cranes are also
killed on migration by power lines.
