A record number of whooping cranes are winging their way back to Canada's North, having survived the winter in the southern United States.

About 266 of the endangered birds have been spotted from Texas to Saskatchewan this spring, as they migrate to their nesting area in Wood Buffalo National Park. By comparison, about 230 cranes were spotted last spring.

Once at the park, which straddles the Alberta-N.W.T. border, the whooping cranes will nest in wetlands so rugged and remote that few people have seen it.

Their summer home will be a sharp contrast to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf Coast, where the cranes spent the winter amid thousands of tourists.

"It's quite the economy down here. A lot of the people that come here are coming to see the cranes," Aransas volunteer Cindy Barrett told CBC News.

About 80,000 people a year visit the Texas wildlife refuge, as visitors watch the big white birds from boats.

The whooping crane is popular internationally because it is considered a success story in wildlife recovery: in 1941, there were only 16 whooping cranes left in the world, according to the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Despite recovery efforts from Canadian and American wildlife officials, the whooping crane continues to face challenges, Barrett said.

"The biggest problem that the whoopers face down here is development," she said. "The more that the cities and towns and areas develop, the greater the demand on the water supply."

The flock of whooping cranes currently in migration is expected to arrive at Wood Buffalo National Park by April 20.