Whooping Cranes

Adult whooping cranes are white with a red crown and a long, dark, pointed bill. Immature whooping cranes are pale brown. While in flight, their long necks are kept straight and their long dark legs trail behind. Adult whooping cranes' black wing tips are visible during flight.


The species stands nearly 5 feet tall with a wingspan of 7.5 feet. Males weigh on average 17 lb, while females weigh about 14 lb. The only other very large, long-legged white birds in North America are: the Great Egret, which is over a foot shorter and one-seventh the weight of this crane; the Great White Heron, which is a morph of the Great Blue Heron in Florida; and the Wood Stork. All three other birds are at least 30% smaller than the whooping crane. Herons and storks are also quite different in structure from the crane.

These are noisy birds making a whooping sound that gave them their name.
The Whooping Cranes are tagged with bands and tracking devices on their legs since birth and don't know any other way of life. I'm told the blue band is for the male and the red is for the female.