"Conservation must become before recreation" -Prince Charles
Whooping Cranes: Status: Endangered Population: Roughly 600 in both the wild and captivity
About the Whooping Crane: Whooping Cranes are white birds with the wings typed with black.. The face is a black-red (with a black moustache strip, as the allaboutbirds.org page says) and the beak is tan-black. The legs are long and black. It has a length of 59.1 inches and a wingspan of 90.2 inches.
A main reason for the decline in population for whooping crane is due to habitat loss. Although these lands are being protected, migrations lands are yet to be saved. Boat traffic and mineral mining also contribute to wetland loss. Hunting played a role in the 1800's. Although the birds are not currently hunted, a careless individual may shooting a crane. Like many other birds, whooping cranes may suffer from collisions with man-made objects. To make matters worse, whooping cranes hatch only one chick a year. Their northern range also results in a shorter breeding season. Disasters could easily wipe out many birds.
Whooping cranes have relatively tiny living areas of which they find suitable. They were originally thought to have been rare even before they were hunted.
Whooping cranes are found in freshwater marshes and shallow bodies of water during breeding season. During the winter season and migration, whooping cranes will reside in saltwater marshes. When feeding, the whooping crane will poke and probe about, stabbing at what it finds, which is usually crustaceans, fish, insects, frogs, and mollusks.
Whooping cranes reach sexual maturity at around five years old. They mate for life. In their courtship dance, they jump up and down, fling their heads, flap their wings, and throw grass or sticks into the air.
Nests are piles of sticks or vegetation with a slight depression for the eggs. Whooping cranes lay 1-3 eggs, which are tan with brown spots, and incubate the eggs for 30 days. The other egg(s) may be kicked out, leaving only one egg that the cranes incubate. Chicks are born with a layer of cinnamon-orange down. They are precocial. As they age, they retain the color, and after a year, grow pure white feathers. A typical crane may live up to 25 years in the wild, and 40 years in captivity.
Sources: Volk, Tom "Whooping Crane Grus Americana". University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. 2007-2012. UW-LAX. Web. 2 March 2015. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "Whooping Crane". Cornell University. nd. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Web. 2 March 2015. National Audubon Society Birds. "Whooping Crane." Audubon Society. n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. "FWS links" FWS.gov Pages. FWS officials, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.