Average speed of travel is 250 miles in 7 to 8 hours. Wildlife officials ask anyone seeing a whooping crane this fall to report the time, place, and other details of the sighting to local wildlife officials. Adult whooping cranes are white with black wingtips and a red forehead. In flight, the bird's long neck is held straight forward, and its long black legs extend beyond the tail. The adult's wingspan may be more than 7 feet, and when standing, some males are as tall as 5 feet.
Juveniles have white and rusty brown body feathers and black wingtips.
Several birds may be misidentified as whooping cranes. Sandhills are noticeable smaller than whooping cranes when they are seen standing together. Snow geese are white with black wing tips but are much smaller than whooping cranes, with short legs that do not extend beyond their tail when flying. Snow geese fly with rapid wing beats and typically occur in large flocks. White pelicans are large white birds with black on the wings, but do not have the long trailing legs in flight.