US Stamp Gallery >> Browse stamps through the history of the United States


Search by subject, description,
content or year


Home

About

See All US Stamps

Add stamps to
your own website


Stamps through:
1847-1850
1851-1875
1876-1900
1901-1925
1926-1950
1951-1975
1976-2000
2001-2024

Whooping cranes
Date Issued: 1957-11-22
Postage Value: 3 cents

Commemorative issue
Wildlife conservation
Whooping cranes

Unique to North America, the five-foot-high whooping crane is the tallest bird of the continent. By 1941 there were less than 24 of the birds remaining. U.S. expansion, particularly land development and rural electrification, played havoc with the cranes' migration route: tidal flats and salt marshes of Texas to previously unknown spots in northern Canada. Wetlands used by migrating birds and wintering cranes for food and nesting grounds were being converted to dry farmland. As the situation continued to worsen, a bush pilot flying over a remote part of Alberta in 1954 discovered their summer breeding grounds. Efforts to preserve the cranes intensified, with U.S. government scientists flying eggs from Canada to the United States to build "backup" flocks. Even with some setbacks, the number of whooping cranes has increased to the point where the species has been upgraded from "endangered" to "threatened."

Topic: Bird (309)  

Back Link to this stamp    Embed this stamp on your website
Browse Stamps through
the history of the United States


African American (267)
Agriculture (65)
Airplane (153)
Animal (601)
Architecture (114)
Art (692)
Asia (1)
Astronomy (11)
Author (159)
Automobile (84)
Baseball (45)
Bird (308)
Boxing (4)
Bridge (32)
Butterflies (34)
Canal (8)
Cats (24)
Children (201)
Christmas (245)
Columbus (31)
Computers (1)
Culture (46)
Dance (34)
Dinosaurs (4)
Dogs (67)
Dolls (23)
Eagle (72)
Entertainment (422)
Explorer (15)
Fish/Fishing (78)
Flag (335)
Flower (496)
Football (40)
Forever Stamp (1023)
Garden (21)
Harry Potter (20)
Hockey (2)
Holocaust (5)
Horse (143)
Industry (13)
Insects (58)
Inventor (39)
Italian Heritage (131)
Landscape (217)
Lighthouses (47)
Lincoln (6)
Lunar New Year (51)
Map (105)
Marine Life (11)
Maritime (5)
Medicine (54)
Military (459)
Movie Industry (180)
Music (192)
Native American (101)
Olympics (123)
Photography (3)
Politics (153)
Portrait (898)
Postal Service (105)
President (287)
Railroad (76)
Red Cross (5)
Religion (56)
Rural (8)
Science/Scientists (129)
Scouting (13)
Ship (185)
Slavery (4)
Soccer (13)
Space (156)
Sport (297)
Stamps on Stamps (26)
Statue of Liberty (26)
Tennis (5)
Trains (1)
Urban (27)
Valentine (4)
Wedding (20)
Wild West (3)
Windmill (7)
Woman (618)
WWII (84)