09/14/2026
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It's Whooper Wednesday!
Whooping cranes, like all species of cranes, are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal material. They are VERY opportunistic and NOT picky, and will take advantage of what is available to them.
This time of year, that might mean eating spilled or waste grain following a harvest. In Saskatchewan, where the Aransas Wood Buffalo population spends time on their fall migration south, that means wheat, in Wisconsin where the reintroduced eastern migratory population is located, that means corn, and here in Louisiana, our cranes will take advantage of rice that remains or is spilled on the ground during the harvest.
Of course these grains and other plant material are just one part of their diet, they also eat small fish, snakes, snails, insects, and here in Louisiana - crawfish. We've even seen them eat the eggs of other small birds nesting in the fields or wetlands where they are foraging!
Thanks to our friend, Ted Thousand, from ICF for sharing many of these photos with us!
