Whooping crane: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the whooping crane lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Grus americana
Group	Herons, storks, cranes & flamingos
Status	Endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	North America
Mass	7.5 kg (adult weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Gruiformes
Family	Gruidae

Where does the whooping crane live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the whooping crane in 2 countries and territories across North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a whooping crane?

Wikidata records the following for the whooping crane: mass 7.5 kg (adult weight).

Is the whooping crane endangered?

The whooping crane’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the whooping crane?

The whooping crane (Grus americana) is a bird in the order Gruiformes and the family Gruidae, genus Grus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the whooping crane

The whooping crane (Grus americana) is an endangered crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls. Along with the sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), 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 (and two captive) 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. This includes about 560 individuals in the remnant population that migrates between coastal Texas, US, and the Northwest Territories, Canada, which is termed the "Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population" after the protected areas that anchor the population's wintering and breeding ranges, respectively. Additionally, there are about 140 individuals in two reintroduced populations breeding in Wisconsin and Louisiana, US, and an additional 130 individuals in captivity.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Whooping crane (revision 1380782589), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q457477 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).