Cranes eat snails, larval insects, leeches, frogs, minnows, small rodents nd berries. They may eat dead birds if that's all they can get.

Whooping Cranes live in Alberta Canada during the warm months of the year.  This is where they breed, or have families. By the end of September, they migrate nearly 4,000 km. South to the Aransas National Wildlife Range in Texas. By gliding, they can stay in the sky for 10 hours at a time. Even though they are large birds, they can fly about 45 km per hour.

The Whoopers are endangered because of people's development of the Cranes' habitat. Their nesting grounds are shrinking. Also, some birds are killed when their wings touch electrical wires. U. S. Wildlife people counted 149 Whooping Cranes in November 1995. This is the largest number since the American government started counting them in the 1930s.

Whooping Cranes stay with the same mate for life. The female lays two large eggs. And both adults take turns sitting on them to keep them warm. The eggs are a brownish color with purple splotches on them. They are about 4 inches long. It takes about a month for the eggs to hatch. The eggs hatch at different times and the second chick is usually pushed out of the nest or starved. The chicks can swim as soon as they hatch, and learn to fly in 80 to 90 days.

Bibliography Matthew Goodson

Counting Cranes, Mary Beth Owens. Published by Little, Brown & Co (Canada) Limited.
© 1995 by Mary Beth Owens.

"Whooping Crane," Microsoft ®Encarta ® 96, Encyclopedia. © 1993-95 Microsoft Corporation. © Funk & Wagnalls Corporation.

"The Majestic & Endangered Whooping Crane: An Alberta, Canada Perspective