The only time I’ve seen whooping cranes, two flew over the road and when I started frantically looking up reports to see if I’d seen what I thought I saw, they were all “That bird was the size of my Buick!”
Have you seen Eurasian cranes yet? They're not much smaller and getting chased by one across a freshly tilled field is an Experience. (Accidentally came out of the forest near a baby. Dad was not impressed.)