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and ground survey teams over its entire migration route from Wood Buffalo <br />National Park to Aransas NWR. Eight additional radio-tracking surveys of <br />individual birds and their traveling companions were conducted through spring <br />1984 when the program was terminated. Specifically, five southbound (fall) and <br />four northbound (spring) tracking efforts were conducted, which collectively <br />included juvenile, adult, and subadul t birds. Though an important objective of <br />these radio-tracking surveys was to gather more complete information on the <br />types of stopover habitat used by migrating whooping cranes, no interpretive <br />reports or analyses of results are presently available. <br />The purpose of this report is to provide a contemporary assessment of the <br />habits and habitat requirements of whooping cranes during migration and, in <br />particular, to evaluate the species' use of the Platte River critical habitat <br />zone in light of recent information collected since the designation of th i s <br />zone in 1978. In the process, original analyses and interpretation of <br />available radio-tracking survey data are presented and placed in context with <br />the existing base of knowledge. Included is significant new information <br />relevant to resource management along the flyway. Moreover, because the <br />designation of the Platte River critical habitat zone was based on "historical <br />data" indicating an abundance of sightings along the 'Big Bend" reach, as well <br />as "continued heavy use" of this area in recent years, all sighting records for <br />the Platte (past to present) are summarized and discussed. Conf i nmed si ghti ngs <br />for the Pl atte are compared w ith those for other maj or stopover areas i n <br />Nebraska (i. e. , the Rai nwater Basi n and Niobrara River) to examine rel ative <br />use. <br />Primary information sources used in the preparation of this document include <br />Allen (1952), the Whooping Crane Recovery Plan (FWS 1980), Johnson and Temple <br />(1980), The Platte Rive o o Study (FWS 1981a), Johnson (1981), Nebraska <br />Game and Parks Commission (1985), the current List 2f c;onfirmed Whooping Crane <br />MJZ ation jzh±Jnas (FWS 1985), and status reports prepared by the Service's <br />Cooperative Whooping Crane Tracking Project (1979 -1984) which contain sighting <br />records and data relative to color-marking and radio-tracking surveys. <br />1 -6 <br />