Whooping Crane
Grus americana
- Endangered
- Card rarity: Epic
- Birds
The whooping crane is an endangered crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls. Along with the sandhill crane, it is one of only two crane species native to North America, and it is also the tallest North American bird species, with an estimated 22–30+ year life expectancy in the wild. After being pushed to the brink of extinction by unregulated hunting and loss of habitat that left just 21 wild cranes by 1941, the whooping crane made a partial recovery through conservation efforts. The total number of cranes in the surviving migratory population, plus three reintroduced flocks and in-captivity, is just over 830 birds as of 2025.
Classification
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Gruidae
- Genus
- Grus