Whooping Crane (Grus americana) lives in prairie wetland and coastal marsh across North America. It feeds on insects & grains. Its conservation status is Endangered.
Fascinating facts about the Whooping Crane
- The whooping crane towers over every other North American bird, standing between 1.24 m and 1.6 m tall, as high as a five-foot-tall child stretched on tiptoes. Its wingspan stretches 2 m to 2.3 m, and adults weigh between 4.5 kg and 8.5 kg, with males averaging 7.3 kg and females 6.2 kg. Such size gives the crane a commanding presence in wetlands, deterring many predators.
- Whooping crane nests are ground-level mounds in marshes where the female lays one or two olive-blotched eggs that measure about 2½ inches wide and 4 inches long and weigh 6.7 oz. Incubation lasts 29-31 days, yet typically only a single chick survives each season, with parents feeding the fledgling for 6-8 months before it becomes independent at about one year.
- The first recorded unison call of a whooping crane pair was captured in December 1999 at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. In this duet, both birds rhythmically call after waking, during courtship, and while defending territory, reinforcing pair bonds and alerting neighbors. Documenting this vocal behavior gave researchers a baseline for monitoring population health and individual identity through "voiceprints."
- Blue crabs fuel whooping cranes in winter like nothing else, in two separate winters (1992-93 and 1993-94) they supplied up to 90 % of the birds' energy intake.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeNorth America
HabitatPrairie wetland and coastal marsh
DietInsects & grains
About the Whooping Crane
Across the vast, sun-drenched wetlands, the Whooping Crane moves with stately elegance, its long, slender legs striding purposefully through the shallow waters as it searches for sustenance. With each deliberate step, its snowy plumage glistens like freshly fallen snow, a beacon of hope in a world where this majestic creature's very existence hangs precariously in the balance. As it takes to the skies, its haunting, whooping call echoes across the landscape, a poignant reminder of the beauty and fragility of this endangered icon.
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