The Whooping Crane

Species name: Whooping Crane (Grus americana)

Habitat: Wilderness wetlands.

Range: Breeds in northern Canada and winters in Texas.

Population: In 1997, there were 174 in Texas, 64 in Florida, and over 100 in captivity.

(Photo credit: Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)

At almost five feet, the whooping crane is the tallest North American bird. In 1941, habitat loss and hunting along the crane's long migration route had reduced the number of whooping cranes left in the wild to only 21. Every year, flocks of cranes travel about 2,400 miles from their secluded Northwest Territories breeding grounds to the coast of Texas -- where they winter at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge -- and back. In Texas, the birds generate about $5 million annually from tourism.

Strict protection and captive breeding efforts funded by the Endangered Species Act have slowly increased the number of whooping cranes more than ten-fold. A non-migratory second population was reintroduced in Florida in 1993. Although the species' future is not secure, recovery can be achieved with a sustained conservation effort.