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

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

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

Fourteen long-legged, fuzzy brown whooping crane chicks — one more than in 2019 — are following their parents or costumed surrogates in facilities from New Orleans to Calgary, Canada.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 14, 2021

Whooping cranes are long-distance migrators, and when their numbers declined so precipitously that there were no adult birds to teach young birds the route, conservationists stepped in and used ultralight airplanes as whooping crane tutors.

From New York Times • May 7, 2021

They have undergone or are currently involved in successful reintroductions to the wild: Karner blue butterfly, red wolf, black-footed ferret, whooping crane, golden-lion tamarin.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh