Whooping Crane

Description: 45-50" A very large, crane, pure white with only tips of wings black, red patch on forehead and cheeks, young birds similar, only tinged with brown, long-necked bird	Habitat: Freshwater marshes of Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta. Winters in shallow coastal marshes of Aransas Wildlife Refuge, Texas Sometimes seen with Sandhill Cranes. Endangered.
Nesting: 2 buff eggs spotted with brown, in a large mound of grassy marsh vegetation	Range: breeds in Wood Buffalo NP on Alberta-Mackenzie border, winters at Port Aransas NWR in Texas
Voice: A trumpeter-like call which can be heard for several miles	Diet: Crustaceans, fish, small vertebrates, insects, small mammals; roots, berries, grain.

Notes: Intensive management and breeding programs have saved the Whooping Crane from extinction. Introduced flock in Idaho winters in New Mexico. Tallest flying bird in North America.

When present in Oklahoma: Stop-over for a few days each fall at Great Salt Plains NWR, usually around early November