Whooping Crane Day takes place every year on May 28 to show appreciation for the rarest of all cranes. Intense conservation and breeding programs have brought these remarkable birds back from the brink of extinction.
Whooping cranes are a symbol of international efforts to recover endangered species. These much-studied wild birds winter in Aransas, Texas, and migrate to breeding grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park, Northwest Territories.
When they migrate, whooping cranes (Grus americana) often fly in association with sandhill cranes, but whooping cranes have several distinctive markings. Adult whooping cranes are usually almost completely white. Their non-white markings are black wing tips and black facial markings. The chicks are born a cinnamon brown colour.
Whooping cranes mate for life. They have elaborate courtship rituals, which usually involve dances and unison songs.
The female usually lays two eggs, but it is rare for more than one chick to survive. Both parents care for the chick, which flies with them during fall migration back to the Gulf of Mexico.
Standing nearly 1.5 m (5 feet) tall, whooping cranes are the tallest bird in North America. Covered in bright white plumage, the whooping crane is a truly magnificent bird. They call with a loud trumpeting, which gives them their name.
Whooping cranes have been brought back from the brink. In the 1940s, only 21 whooping cranes remained in the wild due to overhunting and habitat loss. Since then, dedicated captive breeding and re-introduction programs have contributed to an eastern migration population and several non-migratory populations in Louisiana and Florida, totalling approximately 700 wild individuals in 2023. However, these reintroduced populations are not yet self-sustaining. The Aransas Wood Buffalo population is the only self-sustaining population, numbering only 556 individuals in 2025. Conservation efforts have improved the status of these endangered birds, but challenges remain. Poor productive success, habitat limitation, climate stresses, and poaching are ongoing threats to these wonderful birds.
The annual northern whooping crane festival in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, is a celebration of the return of one of Canada’s most iconic and endangered birds to its nesting grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park. This year, the festival will be held from July 17-19.
