Into Whooperland...
From the boreal forests of Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, the whooping crane makes its way through space and time and connects communities of our past and present.
Once abundant in the prairie wetlands of the Great Plains, this species was almost wiped to extinction by the mid-20th century.
“There are left in the world today only 29 known whooping cranes, a North American bird which once covered the prairies by the thousands. One of the survivors lives on a game reserve in Nebraska, another in a zoo in New Orleans. Two are spending this winter in a Louisiana marsh. The other 25 are in marshes along the Texas coast where Robert Allen, ornithologist of the National Audubon Society, has been hiding in a dummy cow to observe the cranes and see what can be done by man to save them from extinction.”
—Whooping Cranes: Ornithologist Studies Ways to Save Biggest U.S. Bird from Extinction. LIFE magazine, March 3, 1947
Today, these birds are making a comeback, but their story is not over, and much is at stake.
With energy development, urban sprawl, habitat destruction, water quality and quantity issues, and climate change, we ask the question…
Can they survive us and our 21st-century world?
Whooping cranes are the rarest crane species in the world.
They are five feet tall, angel white, with an eight-foot wingspan, and wear a black mask and a red crown.
Their calls sound like a loud, trumpeting bugle and their courtship dance is graceful and elegant.
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Bonded to their mates for life, whoopers can live up to 30 years or more and migrate 5,000 miles annually with their families up and down the great North American Central Flyway.
The whooping crane flyway and historic range map.
Wild whooping cranes are born in the boreal forests of Canada…
migrate south with their parents through the Great Plains…
and spend their winters along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Along their journey, they are faced with many obstacles…
Tar Sands Mining
Transmission Lines
Wind Turbines
Urban Development
Habitat Destruction
Today, there are more than 800 whooping cranes in the world in wild and captive populations, thanks to conservation efforts by many over the past 80 years.
In Wisconsin, the International Crane Foundation uses captive breeding and costume-rearing strategies to raise and protect whooping cranes.
In Louisiana, crane biologists are working to “build a better whooping crane” in captivity and re-establish a wild, non-migratory population.
Deep in the Canadian wilderness of Wood Buffalo National Park, researchers wade through mosquito-laden marshlands and bogs to study these birds in their nesting grounds.
Bulldozers and fire are two of the tools used to manage the wet meadows along and braided channels of the Platte River in Nebraska, a critical stopover habitat for whooping cranes.
Mike Forsberg, a conservation photographer from Nebraska, spent five years documenting whooping cranes in the wild and in captivity.
The further Mike explored, the richer and more interconnected the stories became.
He met communities of people up and down the flyway who have dedicated their lives to protecting the species.
He also got to know a handful of the birds more intimately and refers to some with charismatic nicknames, such as Brutus, Husker Red, and The Church Family.
“Through it all, I stand humbled and grateful for all these experiences and for the people and the birds who have taught me and whom I have shared these experiences with.”
— Michael Forsberg, From the 2024 self-published book, Into Whooperland
Mike traveled 50,000 miles during 35 trips to capture the stories of the cranes, the people who care for them, and of the land on which we all rely.
“So I offer you this testament of pictures and words, with a prayer, hoping it will do them justice,
that while you move through the pages you consider the sweep of time unfolding,
and that you may find the whooping crane’s story somehow entangled in your own story in a meaningful way.
But mostly what I hope for as you hold this book in your hands is that you feel something, anything.
And that you will see these ancient white wonders, tallest of birds in North America and rarest of cranes in our world, as the beautiful beings they are.”
— Michael Forsberg, From the preface of his book, Into Whooperland
Mike shares his journey and the birds’ saga through the pages of his book, Into Whooperland, and through this companion website dedicated to whooping cranes and the stories that surround them.
