whooping crane

noun

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Definition of whooping crane

: a large white nearly extinct North American crane (Grus americana) noted for its loud trumpeting call

Recent Examples of whooping crane from the Web

That’s the most that have hatched since the program began.’’ Biologists estimate more than 10,000 whooping cranes lived in North America before habitat loss and overhunting nearly killed them off.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Birth of 5 chicks signals comeback for Louisiana’s whooping crane," 13 July 2018
Biologists estimate more than 10,000 whooping cranes lived in North America before habitat loss and overhunting nearly killed them off.

— Washington Post, "Louisiana’s whooping crane comeback: 5 chicks this year," 13 July 2018
Return in the morning and listen as a mated pair of whooping cranes standing in the salt marsh call to each other.

— jody schmal and mizanur rahman, Houston Chronicle, "10 awe-inspiring Texas sites to help beat the dog days of summer," 29 June 2018
In a southwest Louisiana crawfish pond, two endangered whooping crane chicks peck about for crawfish, insects, plants and other food.

— Washington Post, "Louisiana’s whooping crane comeback: 5 chicks this year," 13 July 2018
White Oak has previously bred sandhill cranes but never whooping cranes, Shurter said.

— jenny staletovich, miamiherald, "Rare whooping cranes hatch at Florida wildlife refuge | Miami Herald," 9 May 2018
But the Kissimmee Prairie region of Central Florida proved to be a difficult place for whooping cranes to survive and hatch chicks.

— sara sneath, NOLA.com, "14 endangered whooping cranes may be moved from Florida to Louisiana," 15 Mar. 2018
Texas' whooping crane population largely will be insulated from President Donald Trump's proposal to ax the endangered birds' breeding program -- for now, at least.

— alex stuckey, Houston Chronicle, "Trump's budget cuts whooping crane breeding program, but Texas' population largely spared," 26 Feb. 2018
Bryce, the wayward, injured and trouble-maker of a whooping crane, died at the Louisville Zoo on Wednesday.

— james bruggers, The Courier-Journal, "Sad ending for whooping crane who was recovering at the Louisville Zoo," 21 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whooping crane.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.