whooping crane

American  

noun

1. a white North American crane, Grus americana, having a loud, whooping call: an endangered species.

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whooping crane British  

noun

1. a rare North American crane, Grus americana, having a white plumage with black wings and a red naked face

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Etymology

Origin of whooping crane

An Americanism dating back to 1720–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whooping crane

It’s not too late to save the whooping crane, the red-cockaded woodpecker, the piping plover or any of the other 86 birds on the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

Hauser’s story of calling off her marriage to her cheating, gaslighting fiance, then finding grace while studying the whooping crane off the Gulf Coast of Texas, hit all of these notes.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 5, 2022

Therefore, workers must wear a special costume to fool the chick into thinking it is associating with an adult whooping crane to avoid creating the expectation it will mate with a human.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

It’s a gray, retro-style Crosley standing on long black legs, like a whooping crane, looking out over our kitchen in Atlanta.

From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2021

We both gave respectful curtsies, though I couldn’t help but add a few bows at the same time, which might have given me the appearance of a whooping crane in courting season.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan