Whooping Crane Flashcards
What is the tallest bird in North America?
The whooping crane.
What is the conservation status of the whooping crane?
Endangered.
What is the lifespan of the whooping crane?
22 - 24 years
What are some threats to the whooping crane?
Hunting and habitat loss.
How many whooping cranes were left in 1941?
23.
How many whooping cranes are in the wild currently?
437.
What color are young whooping cranes?
Cinnamon brown.
How tall is a whooping crane?
5 feet.
What is the wingspan of the whooping crane?
7.5 feet
How far can the call of the whooping crane carry?
Several kilometers.
When will whooping cranes vocalize?
After waking up, when warning the flock of danger, when courting, and when defending their territory.
Where do whooping cranes spend the winter?
In the southern or southeastern United States.
Where do whooping cranes spend the summer and breed?
Canada or the Great Lakes region.
Do whooping cranes nest on the ground or in the trees?
The ground.
How many eggs do whooping cranes lay?
1 or 2
What is the largest migratory stopover for whooping cranes?
The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge.
What is the favored habitat of whooping cranes?
Marshes.
What are some predators of the whooping crane and its eggs?
Black bears, alligators, wolverines, gray wolves, red foxes, lynx, bobcats, and eagles.
What species is devastating the whooping crane’s population in Florida?
The bobcat.
Why are bobcats so abundant in Florida.
The fact that the larger predators are now extirpated or critically endangered.
What do whooping cranes eat?
Crustaceans, frogs, small rodents, insects, smaller birds, mollusks, fish, berries, small reptiles, grain, corn, and aquatic plants.
True or false, the whooping crane consumes more plants than other species of crane.
False, the whooping crane is more carnivorous.
Why don’t whooping cranes process grains and corn as well as other species of crane?
They do not swallow gizzard stones.
When was the whooping crane declared to be endangered?
1967.
What is the cost of raising one wild whooping crane?
$100,000
What do scientists use to train whooping cranes that have been raised in captivity to migrate?
An ultralight aircraft.
What is the name of the project training whooping cranes to migrate?
Operation migration.
What was the result of scientists placing whooping crane eggs in sandhill crane nests?
The whooping cranes learned to migrate, but failed to breed with other whooping cranes due to the fact that they were imprinted on sandhill cranes.
What are some conservation efforts being made to help whooping cranes?
Preservation of habitat, captive breeding, and steep penalties for those who hunt whooping cranes.
