Texas game wardens in Aransas County are still awaiting necropsy results on a state and federally protected whooping crane found dead on Jan. 4.
The bird was found dead near a duck blind located in the Aransas Bay system close to Sand Lake.
The crane was partially decomposed when removed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens, who had been contacted Sunday morning by a local hunting guide who originally discovered the animal.
Whooping cranes are the tallest birds in North America, standing nearly five feet. The cranes are solid white except for black wing-tips that are visible only in flight, with their legs and neck outstretched.
Each fall, cranes make a 2,400-mile migratory journey from Canada to the Texas coast. They typically return north during mid-spring.
The TPWD and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service are both investigating the incident.
Since beginning their slow recovery from a low of 16 birds during the 1940s, whooping cranes have wintered on the Texas coast and near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, as well as other areas along the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Whooping cranes. (Photo by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)