Ecology of Non-breeding Wisconsin Sandhill Cranes, with Emphasis on Crop Damage and Migration

File(s)
Date
1978-07Author
Melvin, Scott Merrill
Publisher
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, College of Natural Resources
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Studies of non-breeding greater sandhill cranes (Grus
canadensis tabida), their movements, habitat use, migration,
wintering grounds, and involvement in crop damage, were conducted
in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Florida from April 1976
through November 1977. Fifty-eight cranes were captured and
color-marked in central Wisconsin and another 10 non-breeders
were fitted with radio transmitters. Radio-tagged cranes
inhabited minimum home ranges of 774 to 3,691 ha during 6-18
week periods from April through September. At least 1 nonbreeder
spent consecutive summers at locations more than
56 km apart.
Non-breeding birds are responsible for nearly all the
sandhill crane crop damage occurring in Wisconsin. In a
majority of cases the damage is caused by 10 or fewer cranes,
and in many areas damages are recurrent from year to year.
Tests using the chemical methiocarb as a repellent to cranes
in sprouting corn (Zea mays) were inconclusive. Acetylene
exploders are the most effective method of control presently
in use. Visits by landowners to fields to scare cranes are
effective and should be encouraged when practical. Lure
crops may be of value in areas that experience recurrent
damage and are located near wetlands with large numbers of
cranes. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources personnel
should continue to evaluate crane damage complaints critically
and as soon as possible after damage occurs.
Eleven major sandhill crane staging areas in Wisconsin
supported a peak fall population of over 3,500 cranes in 1977.
Five of these areas were in private ownership. Sandhill
cranes from the Mead Wildlife Area in central Wisconsin moved
southwestward to the Sandhill Wildlife Area before leaving
Wisconsin in the fall, and cranes from Shawano County in
northeast Wisconsin moved to staging areas in southeast-central
Wisconsin. The fall migration of cranes from Wisconsin
is related to the opening of the waterfowl hunting season.
Cranes in southeast-central Wisconsin, where roosting marshes
are subjected to heavy hunting pressure, leave the state up
to 6 weeks earlier than cranes with undisturbed roosts at
the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and the Sandhill Wildlife
Area.
More than 80 percent of the sandhill cranes color-marked
or radio-tagged in central and northeastern Wisconsin in 1977
were observed at the Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Area, Indiana,
during the fall migration. Some stayed less than 1 week,
others for 7 weeks or longer. Cranes from southeast-central
Wisconsin staging areas arrived at Jasper-Pulaski earlier
and stayed for longer periods than cranes from west-central
Wisconsin. Variations in the "typical" activity patterns of
cranes at Jasper-Pulaski are due to the changing influences
of weather, season, disturbances to the birds, farming practices,
and land-use patterns.
Over 4,500 wintering greater sandhill cranes were
accounted for in central Florida and southern Georgia during
the winter of 1976-77. Eight cranes color-marked or radio-tagged
in central Wisconsin since 1973 were reported from 5
locations in central, eastern, and western Florida during the
winters of 1976-77 and 1977-78.
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/79501Type
Thesis