Game and Fish: Watch for whooping cranes

North Dakota Wildlife officials are asking the public to report any sightings of whooping cranes in North Dakota. The birds fall migration will bring them through the state in the next few weeks.

Whooping cranes are an endangered species and anyone sighting one is asked report it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the N.D. Game and Fish Department. The public is asked not to disturb the birds but note the location, date, time and any colored identification bands that may be on one or both legs of the birds.

Whooping cranes stand about 5 feet tall and have a 7 foot wing span. The birds are white with black wing tips that are only visible in flight. Juvenile birds, this year’s hatch, may have gray feathers mixed with the white. Whooping cranes typically migrate alone or in groups of two to three birds and may travel with sandhill cranes.

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