0comments Big Whoop

I took a trip with some fellow birders to the Brownstown, IN area in search of Sandhill Cranes and Short-eared Owls. The owls were a no-show but we did get to see several groups of Sandhills loafing in the corn fields and flying overhead.




And then we saw this big white bird in the field among the Sandhills. The Whooping Crane is the largest bird in North America, standing around five feet tall. As few as 16 birds were left as of 1941, when efforts to bring back the bird's population began. Today there are around 315 in the wild and more in captivity. They are still endangered despite the great amount of effort that has been put into their conservation.