May 28, 2019—Happy Whooping Crane Day! Whooping cranes are one of the most endangered species of crane. We welcomed 5 breeding pairs of whooping cranes at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in December 2018. Whooping cranes have elaborate courtship rituals involving dances and unison calls, and the birds usually mate for life. Despite recovering from fewer than two-dozen birds in the 1940s to more than 800 in the wild today, whooping cranes are still one of the most endangered species of cranes. Any chicks our pairs at SCBI hatch and raise will be candidates for reintroduction to the wild. In addition to breeding cranes, we study whooping crane hormones through blood and fecal samples to determine how they affect the birds’ ability to lay fertile eggs. #WeSaveSpecies
