• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	D	D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Endangered	D
2016	Endangered	D
2012	Endangered	D
2008	Endangered	D1
2006	Endangered
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	306,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	139,000 km2	medium
Number of locations	2	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	50-249 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2007
Population trend	increasing	good	estimated	1972-2008
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	80-100%	-	-	-
Generation length	15.66 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The total population in the wild numbers c.483 individuals. However, the only self-sustaining population breeding in Northwest Territories/Alberta, Canada and wintering in Texas, USA numbers 329 individuals, fewer than 250 of which are mature. Hence we retain a precautionary estimate of 50-249 mature individuals. Despite this however, the latest evidence from the Crane Conservation Strategy (Smith 2019) suggests that both the self-sustaining Aransas-Wood Buffalo population and additional reintroduced populations have increased notably in recent years and that the current population estimate may now be a considerable underestimate.

Trend justification: The natural flock has increased at 4.2% per year over the past 20 years, excluding the drop in 2009, slightly below the growth rate of 4.6% since 1938 (T. Stehn and J. Cannon in litt. 2007, Pearse et al. 2019). This equates to a rapid increase over the last three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Canada	extant	native		yes		yes
Mexico	extinct	native			yes
USA	extant	native		yes	yes	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Canada	Buffer Lake
Canada	Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area
Canada	Luck Lake
Canada	Midnight Lake
Canada	Quill Lakes
Canada	Radisson Lake
Canada	Whooping Crane Nesting Area and Summer Range
USA	Blackjack Peninsula of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
USA	Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve and Wildlife Area
USA	Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge
USA	Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area and surrounding areas
USA	Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
USA	Rowe Sanctuary
USA	Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	major	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	major	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	major	breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		No decline		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		No decline		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors	Utility & service lines	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Whooping Crane Grus americana. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/whooping-crane-grus-americana on 24/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/12/2024.