Whooping Crane

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Lore & Background

The whooping crane was formally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, who placed it with herons and cranes in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea america. Linnaeus based his description on accounts by Mark Catesby (1729–1732) and George Edwards (1750), who used a preserved specimen brought from the Hudson Bay area by James Isham. The species is now placed in the genus Grus, introduced in 1760 by Mathurin Jacques Brisson. At one time, the whooping crane's range extended throughout midwestern North America and southward to Mexico. By the mid-20th century, the muskeg of the taiga in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada, became the last remnant of its former nesting habitat. However, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership Reintroduction Project has led to natural nesting in Wisconsin's Necedah National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in 100 years, with subsequent expansion into Wisconsin and surrounding states. Reintroduced non-migratory populations have nested in Florida and Louisiana, though the Florida reintroduction has been halted and considered a failure due to high adult mortality, low juvenile recruitment, and high rates of habitat loss.

In Their Own Story

The dawn breaks over the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, where the whooping crane population winters along the Gulf coast near Rockport, on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and along Sunset Lake in Portland, Matagorda Island, Isla San Jose, and portions of the Lamar Peninsula and Welder Point. From the mist, a towering white figure with a red crown and long, dark, pointed bill emerges. It pauses, lifting its long neck to scan the horizon before letting out a loud, carrying call that can travel several kilometers. Behind it, a smaller cinnamon-brown juvenile mimics the call, learning the song of survival. They step in unison into the reeds, their movements deliberate and graceful. The pair jointly calls rhythmically in a "unison call" after waking, after courtship, and when defending their territory. The first unison call ever recorded in the wild was taken here in December 1999. These birds forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes probing with their bills. In their Texas wintering grounds, they feed on various crustaceans, mollusks, grasshoppers, fish (such as eel), small reptiles, mice, voles, aquatic plants, acorns, and fruits like wolfberry. Blue crabs have been reported as a significant food source, constituting up to 90 percent of their energy intake in two winters (1992–93 and 1993–94).

Reader's Guide

The whooping crane faces threats from predators including the American black bear, wolverine, gray wolf, cougar, red fox, Canada lynx, bald eagle, common raven, and golden eagles. American alligators have taken a few in Florida, and bobcats have killed many captive-raised cranes in Florida and Texas, causing the great majority of natural mortalities among whooping cranes in Florida. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center scientists believe this is due to an overpopulation of bobcats caused by the absence or decrease of larger predators like the endangered Florida panther and extirpated red wolf. In Florida, whooping cranes may also be eaten by invasive snakes such as Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, Southern African rock pythons, Central African rock pythons, boa constrictors, yellow anacondas, Bolivian anacondas, dark-spotted anacondas, and green anacondas. The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma is a major migratory stopover, hosting 60-75% of the species annually. Waste grain including wheat, barley, and corn is an important food for migrating whooping cranes, though they digest grain less efficiently than sandhill cranes as they do not swallow gizzard stones. Conservation efforts include the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership Reintroduction Project, which has led to natural nesting in Wisconsin, and captive breeding programs. As of 2025, the total number of cranes is just over 830, including about 560 in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population, about 140 in two reintroduced populations breeding in Wisconsin and Louisiana, and an additional 130 in captivity.

Did You Know?

• The whooping crane was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 based on accounts by Mark Catesby and George Edwards, with a specimen brought from Hudson Bay by James Isham.
• By 1941, only 21 wild and two captive whooping cranes remained due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss.
• The first unison call ever recorded in the wild was taken at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in December 1999.
• Blue crabs constituted up to 90 percent of whooping crane energy intake during the winters of 1992–93 and 1993–94 at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
• The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma hosts 60-75% of the whooping crane species annually as a major migratory stopover.