Books with title The Whooping Crane

Whooping cranes once lived all over North America. But by the 1940s, only one tiny flock was left. These beautiful birds were in danger of dying out. Scientists decided to start a second flock of whooping cranes, but they had a serious problem to overcome. Whooping cranes need to migrate. They live up north in summer, then fly south to spend winter in warmer locations. Usually young cranes follow older cranes when they migrate. How would the scientists teach the new flock where to go?

Whooping cranes once lived all over North America. But by the 1940s, only one tiny flock was left. These beautiful birds were in danger of dying out. Scientists decided to start a second flock of whooping cranes, but they had a serious problem to overcome. Whooping cranes need to migrate. They live up north in summer, then fly south to spend winter in warmer locations. Usually young cranes follow older cranes when they migrate. How would the scientists teach the new flock where to go?

Based on a true account, young Samuel Ellis, age 10, has recently moved to the Dakotas with his family in the late 1800's. There he befriends a wounded whooping crane and nurses it back to health and the two form an unusual bond and begin a wonderful friendship. Together they have many adventures; some dangerous, some humorous. And through this extraordinary relationship of a boy and bird, we learn a great deal about creatures of the wild and the delicate balance between extinction and existence.

Learn all about the tall, noisy whooping crane see it dance, follow its flight path, and watch the stages as a chick hatches and grows into a cinnamon-colored juvenile and then into a stunning white bird with black wing tips and a red crown. Why is this bird endangered? Devastating loss of habitat and overhunting of eggs and of adults for their skin in the 1800s made their numbers dwindle. By 1942, there were only sixteen whoopers still living in the wild. Now the whooping crane is making a comeback. In 2007, over 300 whooping cranes were migrating between Canada and Texas. Find out what scientists are doing and what you can do to help this endangered animal.