The whooping crane flies 2,600 miles each fall from its breeding grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, to the oak savannahs, marshes, salt flats and bays of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Coast

Between 1870 and 1893, ranchers, farmers and hunters eliminated most of the whooping cranes and their habitat.

In Texas, by 1918, only 16 birds were left on the King Ranch, and 25 on or near the present Aransas Refuge.  The last whooper on the King Ranch was seen in 1937, the year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where 18 or 19 birds were counted.

Since 1950 there has been a slow, but mostly steady climb in whooper numbers - and this past season 132 birds came to the Aransas Refuge.

This image is from the Charles Beckendorf Texas Wildlife book. The original was an acrylic painting on canvas (1992) and the size is approximately 7.5 X 9.5 inches.  The total edition size of this print is 500.

This is a part of the  Collection.