The Whooping Crane

Methodical as if motion is slowed just a bit. The Whooping Crane paces through shallow tepid waters gracefully plucking out a blue crab for lunch. Carefully removing claws before swallowing the body with a smooth gulp.

Our tallest bird in North America standing just about 5 feet (we’d be eye to eye). With a wingspan longer than the height of a tall human at around 7.5 feet. Spindly long legs hold up a large oblong sturdy body covered in snowy white plumage and a bit of a bustle. The wing tips are black, visible when outstretched. A long flexible neck and large bill met with rusty red wrapped around the face from top of head coming to a crescent point below the cheek. Finished off with a yellow observant eye.

Our migratory population is headed back to Canada for spring and will return again in late September during fall migration to overwinter with their young in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent parts of coastal south Texas. This migratory population is currently under 600 birds. In the late 1930s there were only 18.

Slow and methodical as well in their steady repopulation.