Category: Whooping Crane

Biology / Ecology The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is a national endangered bird species found exclusively in North America. It is one of the oldest and rarest birds of the world’s 15 crane species (NPWRC, 2006), and grows to about 1.2 metres in height, making it the tallest bird in North America. Whooping cranes possess…

Whooping cranes are currently listed as endangered under the revised IUNC Red List Categories. The U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada also have the whooping crane classified as endangered. In the mid-1800’s, the whooping crane population was approximately 1300. Habitat loss and hunting devastated this population…

Overexploitation, habitat destruction, pollution, human disturbance, and natural disasters are just some of the factors that have contributed to the overall whooping crane population decline. Historically, drainage and clearing of wetlands, and the conversion of marshlands to hay and grain production made the birds’ breeding areas unsuitable for nesting (USFWS, 2007). These alterations also disrupted…

Humans are capable of affecting the survival of species both positively and negatively. As indicated earlier, whooping cranes are sometimes mistakenly hunted or illegally shoot, and are known to collide with power lines when they migrate, resulting in a population decline. Generally, the slightest disturbance can cause great harm to such a small group. Nevertheless,…

The ongoing plan for the flock established in Wisconsin involves releasing 10 to 25 juvenile cranes from the PWRC into the NNWR annually (USFWS, 2001). To manage and track the flocks movement and survival, cranes are radio-tagged and monitored. Experiments examining the effectiveness of co-releasing whooping cranes with migrating sandhill cranes will also be investigated….

Due to their unique physical characteristics and features, the whooping crane is a popular attraction to many people. The earliest group to get involved was the ‘Whooper Club’ in the 1950’s, which comprised of a network of individuals along the Aransas–Wood Buffalo Park migration route who would get the word out to government officials urging them…

Cannon, J.R. (1996). Whooping Crane Recovery: A Case Study in Public and Private Cooperation in the Conservation of Endangered Species. Conservation Biology, 10(3): 813-821.  Drewien, R.C., Tautin, J., Courville, M.L., & Gomez, G.M. (2001). Whooping cranes breeding at White Lake, Louisiana, 1939: Observations by John J. Lynch, U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey. Proceedings North American Crane Workshop,8:24-30. Dunlap, T.R. (1991). Organization…