Abstracts from PROCEEDINGS of the 13Th NORTH AMERICAN CRANE ORKW SHOP
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Proceedings of the North American Crane North American Crane Working Group Workshop 2016 Abstracts from PROCEEDINGS OF THE 13th NORTH AMERICAN CRANE ORKW SHOP Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc Part of the Behavior and Ethology Commons, Biodiversity Commons, Ornithology Commons, Population Biology Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the North American Crane Working Group at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 13:2016 ABSTRACTS 111 AGE-SPECIFIC SURVIVAL OF GREATER SANDHILL CRANE COLTS IN NEVADA CHAD AUGUST, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Port Arthur, TX 77640, USA JIM SEDINGER, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV 89512, USA CHRIS NICOLAI, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Reno, NV 89502, USA Abstract: We estimated daily survival rates and fledging success and evaluated factors influencing survival of greater sandhill crane (Grus canadensis tabida) chicks (i.e., colts) in northeastern Nevada. We monitored 101 colts during 2009-2010. We found survival was lower on Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge compared to private or state-owned lands. Colts located on the Refuge had essentially no prospect of fledging (1 ± 6% in 2009, <1 ± 3% in 2010), whereas colts located on private and state lands had higher and more variable probability of fledging (25 ± 13% in 2009, 15 ± 9% in 2010). Daily survival rates were lowest early in development and increased with age of colts. We did not detect an effect of weather or habitat use on survival. Our results support previous findings of predation as the primary cause of pre-fledging mortality in cranes. Our findings are inconsistent with sibling competition as a major source of mortality but support extrinsic factors as important determinants of survival. Our results suggest that management of predator populations may influence fledging of cranes in northeast Nevada. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 13:111 Key words: chick survival, fledging success,Grus canadensis, Nevada, sandhill crane. WHOOPING CRANE DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT USE: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE? JANE AUSTIN, U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USA MATTHEW HAYES, International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, WI 53913; and Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA JEB BARZEN, International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, WI 53913, USA Abstract: Accurate determination of the historic range for a species can be important to the success of the species conservation and reintroduction efforts. The remnant wild population of the endangered whooping crane (Grus americana) historically had a wide distribution but is now limited to a small portion of that range. What can past and present whooping crane distributions tell us about the future? In addition to historic data compiled by R. P. Allen in 1952, we obtained 76 supplementary records and used geographic information systems to re-assess historic distribution and habitats of whooping cranes in their former breeding and wintering ranges. We extended the breeding, summering, and wintering ranges into several new areas. Whooping cranes historically were found in 9 biomes and many ecoregions, extending from the tundra and boreal forests of northwestern Canada to the Gulf Coast and xeric shrublands of interior Mexico. Based on crane life history, landscape, and wetland features of historic locations, we identified 4 features common to breeding and wintering areas: 1) high densities of wetlands or large wetland complexes; 2) shallow, open wetland systems with emergent vegetation; 3) subtle to rolling topography that provides an interspersion of wetland and low meadow or prairie habitats with relatively sparse cover of trees and shrubs; and 4) high productivity due to hydrological pulsing, periodic inflow of nutrients, or periodic disturbances. The new insights from this assessment, combined with site-specific studies of current habitat use by whooping cranes, should better inform future evaluations and selection of reintroduction sites. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 13:111 Key words: distribution, Grus americana, habitat, historic range, whooping crane. 112 ABSTRACTS Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 13:2016 BEHAVIORAL MOVEMENTS OF ARANSAS-WOOD BUFFALO WHOOPING CRANES: ANOMALIES OR INDICATIONS OF WAYS TO FURTHER ENHANCE SPECIES RECOVERY DAVID BAASCH, Platte River Recovery Implementation Program, Kearney, NE 68849, USA MARK BIDWELL, Canadian Wildlife Service, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X4, Canada WADE HARRELL, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Austwell, TX 77950, USA KRIS METZGER, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, NM 87102, USA AARON PEARSE, U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USA MARY HARNER, The Crane Trust, Wood River, NE 68883, USA Abstract: Aransas-Wood Buffalo whooping cranes (Grus americana) usually summer and nest in and around Wood Buffalo National Park, winter at or near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, and migrate between these sites during spring and fall each year. Since 2010 the Whooping Crane Tracking Partnership has monitored movements of 57 individual whooping cranes marked with transmitters that collect multiple GPS locations per day. The Whooping Crane Tracking Project and advancements in technology have provided an unprecedented opportunity to study this imperiled species in ways that to date have not been possible. Among other things, we have observed many behavioral movements that are well documented in the literature, but other movements have rarely or never been observed or reported. We have been able to document birds that summered in Saskatchewan, western Alberta, and eastern British Columbia, and even birds that spent weeks hundreds of km north of Wood Buffalo National Park. We have also observed migration paths that were well outside the range of the typical migration corridor and have documented birds wintering over 160 km, inland and along the Gulf Coast, from the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Here we present some behavioral movements observed to date that may provide additional insight into the recovery of the species. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 13:112 Key words: Aransas, Grus americana, movements, tracking, whooping crane, Wood Buffalo. Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 13:2016 ABSTRACTS 113 INFLUENCES ON NEST SUCCESS IN A REINTRODUCED POPULATION OF WHOOPING CRANES JEB BARZEN, International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, WI 53913, USA SARAH CONVERSE, U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD 20708, USA PETER ADLER, Department of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA ELMER GRAY, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA ANNE LACY, International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, WI 53913, USA EVA SZYSZKOSKI, International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, WI 53913, USA ANDREW GOSSENS, International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, WI 53913, USA Abstract: Historical nesting areas of extirpated whooping cranes (Grus americana) included wetlands in divergent taiga, tallgrass prairie, and Gulf coast biomes. The wild migratory population breeds in taiga while, since 2001, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership has worked to reintroduce an Eastern Migratory Population (EMP) in the tallgrass biome. Compared with previous reintroductions, most aspects of the EMP reintroduction have been successful. Adult survival is high, and pairing, foraging, migratory, and copulatory behaviors appear normal. Reproductive rates, however, are unsustainable. Multiple hypotheses including attacks by blood-feeding black flies (Simulium spp.), slow maturation of breeding birds, inappropriate energy-storage patterns, mal-adaptations to wild situations, inappropriate habitat use, and predation all potentially explain low nest success and are not mutually exclusive. Abundance of avian-feeding black fly species was related to nest failure, but the relevant species were found in high numbers only in the Necedah area. In 2012, when black fly populations were suppressed, nest success increased to 45% although only 2 of 9 chicks fledged, further suggesting that multiple biological constraints were involved. In 2013, a second control year in which black fly populations were not suppressed, nest success was again low. Conservation actions include maintaining the core population near Necedah along with other potential actions such as facilitating dispersion to new habitats that have different wetland productivity levels, black fly populations, and predator communities. How birds use the varied landscapes they inhabit can help guide reintroduction efforts as the reintroduced birds respond to varied situations for the first time in more than a century. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 13:113 Key words: black flies, Eastern Migratory Population ,Grus americana, nesting, whooping crane. 114 ABSTRACTS Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 13:2016 DETERMINING DIET COMPOSITION AND INGESTION RATE OF CRANES THROUGH FIELD MEASUREMENT JEB BARZEN, International