Whooping Crane Conservation Association

Growing up Fast....  Updated 6/19/10.

The whooping crane, North America’s tallest bird, grows from 4 inches tall to nearly 5 feet tall in 80 days. This bird may grow taller, faster, than any other terrestrial animal on the continent. Check out this transformation below!

Whooping cranes build a nest out of plant stems in a shallow marsh. They lay 1 or 2 eggs; the parents take turns incubating the eggs for an average of 30 days until hatching. The large egg is about the size of a tennis ball.

Newly-hatched whooping crane chicks are cinnamon brown. Early on, the parents feed the chick small animals such as snails, earthworms, and insects.

Even before their flight feathers have sprouted, young cranes run and exercise their wings to prepare for later flights. At 26 days old, one chick’s parents were observed bringing it 26 food items in 5 minutes! It takes a lot of groceries to make this dramatic growth spurt!

Notice the incoming white feathers.Young cranes have huge appetites. As the chicks grow, the parents begin feeding them larger prey items, such as frogs and snakes. Also, the chick begins to catch food items for itself.

The young crane makes its first flight at around 80 days of age. By now, much of its white adult plumage has begun to replace the brown plumage of its youth. They sport 10 black feathers on the tips of their 7-8 foot wing span.

By the time they reach one year of age, they are difficult to distinguish from their parents. Only a few brown feathers remain on the head and neck.

The red on the head of adult whooping cranes and sandhill cranes is actually skin. The feathers are reduced to tiny hair-like structures. The size of this red “comb”, and the color intensity, can be “adjusted” by the bird, to be used as a signaling device—indicating to other cranes its place in the social hierarchy, and its “mood”.

Pictures of Whooping Crane chicks.  Updated 5/11/03.

(All pictures and video's used by permission)

Whooping Crane pair 800/898 feeding their new chick.

Photo by Marty Folk, Florida Wildlife Commission.

Whooper male parent standing by chick.

Photo by Marty Folk, Florida Wildlife Commission.

Whooper parent's 800/898 feeding chick.

Photo by Marty Folk, Florida Wildlife Commission.

Both Whooper parents (800/898) line up to feed tadpoles to chick.

Photo by Marty Folk, Florida Wildlife Commission.

Above: Whooping Crane pair 800/898 with their chick on Wednesday evening (03/19/03).

Below are some pictures of "Lucky" Enjoy them.