# Whooping crane (*Grus americana*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/whooping-crane  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The whooping crane (Grus americana) is a species in the family Gruidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh 5.83 kg to 7.5 kg and live up to 30 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 5.83 kg – 7.5 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 2 m – 2.3 m |
| Lifespan | 30 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 40 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 31.8 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 |
| Age at maturity | 4 years – 4.49 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Endangered (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Gruiformes
- family: Gruidae
- genus: Grus
- species: *Grus americana* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Ardea americana*, *Grus clamator*, *Grus hoyianus*, *Grus struthio*

## Common questions

### How big is the whooping crane?

An adult whooping crane weighs 5.83 kg – 7.5 kg and has a wingspan of 2 m – 2.3 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### Is the whooping crane endangered?

The whooping crane is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

### How long does the whooping crane live?

The whooping crane has a recorded lifespan of 30 years.

### What kind of animal is the whooping crane?

The whooping crane (Grus americana) belongs to the family Gruidae in the order Gruiformes.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Whooping crane (Grus americana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/whooping-crane