The whooping crane (Grus americana), the tallest bird in North America, has existed near the brink of extinction for decades, with its wild migratory population having dwindled to a single flock of 15 birds in the 1940s. However, following years of dedicated conservation work targeting illegal hunting and habitat loss, the wild population has grown to more than 500 birds.
This short film features tracking data tracing a whooping crane family during an annual 2,500-mile migration over the North American plains in 2022, from the Texas Gulf Coast to Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada. Along the way, they must navigate a narrow and fraught flight path, dodging storms exacerbated by climate change and the ever-growing footprint of humanity. The result is immersive and engaging – a remarkable example of how data visualisation can be used to tell stories that elucidate complex issues.
Video by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Producers: Tom Swartwout, Michael Forsberg, Mark Bidwell, Mariah Lundgren
Animator: 422 South
videoNature and landscape
Scenes from Aboriginal Australian pottery chart the turn of the seasons
7 minutes
videoHistory of science
Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful
8 minutes
videoLove and friendship
What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?
13 minutes
videoEnvironmental history
In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests
13 minutes
videoLanguage and linguistics
Do button-pushing dogs have something new to say about language?
9 minutes
videoMeaning and the good life
Why Orwell urged his readers to celebrate the spring, cynics be damned
11 minutes
videoAnimals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
videoEarth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes
videoAnimals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes