12/01/2024
Whoop there it is!
The Whooping Crane is one of the rarest birds in North America (and the world). I’ve never seen one… Until yesterday (11/29/24).
I was bumping down a country road in northern Indiana, photographing Sandhill cranes. And suddenly , there it was. A Whooping Crane. To make matters more exciting, it was a juvenile! Not much brings me to tears… but this did.
The Whooping Crane is North Americas tallest bird, standing 4 feet to just over 5 feet tall.
These cranes were never extremely common. At one point, there were an estimated 10,000 whooping cranes in North America. Hunting and habitat loss caused numbers to dwindle to just 15 whooping cranes in 1941.
A tremendous conservation effort is underway to save this species, and as of 2020 there were nearly 800 whooping cranes alive (captive + wild birds). This is the result of cooperative work involving federal regulations in Canada and The United States, captive breeding programs, the efforts of zoos and wildlife / conservation areas, individual citizens, and others.
Most recently, efforts to save the species has included introducing a new flock that spends its summers in Wisconsin. Young birds were once trained to follow an ultralight plane to Florida for their initial migration!! The bird I saw today is, in all likelihood, a descendant of those birds.
These pictures were obtained ethically and at long distance with a 500mm prime lens, high resolution camera, and cropped tight. Once I sighted the bird, I did not move until it left the area.
You can learn more about Whooping cranes here:
https://savingcranes.org/species/whooping-crane/
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/whooping-crane
https://www.fws.gov/species/whooping-crane-grus-americana
https://www.fws.gov/story/2023-08/whooping-cranes-reflecting-50-years-esa-protection-and-habitat-conservation
