Whooping Crane Day

The endangered Whooping Crane is the rarest of all cranes and among the oldest living bird species on the earth.

Whooping Crane Day, which annually falls on May 18, calls attention to the threats that face these unique birds, and the efforts to save their species from extinction. Whooping Crane Day was first celebrated in 2002 in the USA. These birds take their name from their distinctive whooping call, which can carry over several kilometers as a way to advertise their breeding territory to other whooping cranes.

Whooping cranes are noted for their stark white feathers and black primary (flight) feathers, which are only visible during flight or courtship dancing.

These birds live primarily in breeding pairs or small family groupings. They form extremely strong pair bonds. Breeding season lasts from late April to May. Eggs are incubated for up to 35 days. The average number of offspring is two, with an equal sex ratio of males and females. Cranes reach sexual maturity between the ages of 4 and 5. Adult Whooping Cranes are identified by a red skin patch on their forehead, black “mustache” and legs, and black wing tips visible in flight.

Migrating whooping cranes fly like a glider, on fixed wings. They spiral up using updrafts, glide down, and begin spiraling upward again.

Whooping cranes nearly vanished in the mid-20th century, with a 1941 count finding only 16 living birds. When the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, less than 50 Whooping Cranes existed in the wild.

2018. There are only 612 Whooping Cranes across the entire continent of North America, and while those numbers are slowly rising thanks to the work of the International Crane Foundation and others, the species is still endangered. Without guaranteed clean water and air, these wetland birds stand a good chance of going extinct, and our ecosystems will suffer as a result.

May 28 is Whooping Crane Day: The Association of Zoos and Aquariums institutions are working together to save whooping cranes through the SAFE initiative (Saving Animals From Extinction).

Source: aza.org | savingcranes.org | nationalgeographic.com