NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Whooping Crane
Grus americana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The whooping crane (Grus americana) is an endangered crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls. Along with the sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), it is one of only two crane species native to North America, and it is also the tallest North American bird species, with an estimated 22–30+ year life expectancy in the wild. After being pushed to the brink of extinction by unregulated hunting and loss of habitat that left just 21 wild (and two captive) cranes by 1941, the whooping crane made a partial recovery through conservation efforts. The total number of cranes in the surviving migratory population, plus three reintroduced flocks and in-captivity, is just over 830 birds as of 2025. This includes about 560 individuals in the remnant population that migrates between coastal Texas, USA, and the Northwest Territories, Canada, which is termed the "Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population" after the protected areas that anchor the population's wintering and breeding ranges, respectively.
Wikipedia contributors, Whooping crane; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:08:27.037455+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Grus americana (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Whooping Crane
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Gruidae
- Genus
- Grus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyGruidae
- subfamilyGruinae
- genusGrus Brisson, 1760
- speciesGrus americana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Grus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Common CraneGrus grus (Linnaeus, 1758) | GruidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Japanese CraneGrus japonensis (P. L. S. Müller, 1776) | GruidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hooded CraneGrus monacha Temminck, 1835 | GruidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Wattled CraneGrus carunculata (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | GruidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue CraneGrus paradisea (A. A. H. Lichtenstein, 1793) | GruidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ardea americana Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176176 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3HFDB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.