At five feet tall, and a wingspan over seven feet, the Whooping Crane has the distinction of being North America’s tallest bird and sadly, also one of its rarest. Habitat loss and hunting pressure from European settlers in the late 1800’s reduced the population of this iconic animal to just fifteen birds by 1940. Since then, in an intense effort to protect and restore the species, a broad coalition of NGO’s, private interests, and government agencies has worked collectively and tirelessly to nurture the remaining wild flock to its current population of about six hundred birds.