ENDANGERED BIRDS

Whooping Crane

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Grus Americana 

The Whooping Crane is the largest crane seen in North America. It is an endangered and protected bird with less than forty birds left alive before a program was started to save them.

Today, there are over three hundred wild Whooping Cranes. From the original breeding area in the northwestern regions of Canada, there is now a second one established in the northern US central states.

Adults are bright white with accents of red on the head. The legs, bill, and wingtips are black.

Both sexes are similar in plumage, but the male is larger than the female.

Immatures are whitish below but mottled brownish-rusty above.

They are very large, tall birds with long necks and long legs. They measure about 59.1 inches in length, with a wingspan of 90.2 inches and weighs about 6000 to 7800 grams.

They utter a shrill, loud, trumpeting calls “ker-loo ker-lee-loo”.

They are omnivorous and feeds on insects, small fish, frogs, small birds and rodents during summer. They consume tubers and waste grain during the migrations, and on the wintering coastal grounds, they feed on blue crabs and clams and take acorns and invertebrates when foraging in uplands.

They breed in shallow, grassy wetlands interspersed with grasslands or scattered evergreens.

During migration, they stop over on wide shallow river flats.

They winter mainly in coastal marshes and estuaries. They sometimes forage at crop fields.

The Gulf Coast of Texas, United States, 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, which is on the east side of San Antonio Bay.

The nest is made with aquatic vegetation and is placed on the ground but up to 45- 50 cm above the water level.

The male and female build the nest together by piling up and trampling vegetation such as bulrushes, sedges, and cattails.

The female lays two light brown or olive eggs with brown splotches. The incubation lasts 28-31 days, shared by both parents, but mainly by the female.

SOURCES:
https://www.birds-of-north-america.net
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.allaboutbirds.org
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com