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IF7 <br />E )ECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />In recent years, research emphasis by the U.S. Fish and Wil dl ife Service (the <br />Service) and other groups has been directed towards defining the migratory <br />habits and habitat requirements of the endangered whooping crane. Though <br />intensive studies to monitor migrant cranes marked with colored leg bands <br />and /or leg-mounted radio transmitters have acquired substantial new and <br />important data in this regard, no interpretive reports or comprehensive <br />analyses of these data are presently available. At the same time, access to <br />and consideration of current information--as wel 1 as careful examination of <br />historical data--is essential to prudent resource management throughout the <br />whooping crane's migration corridor. <br />Accordingly, the purpose of this report is to provide a contemporary synthesis <br />of information on the behavior and habitat utilization of migrant whooping <br />cranes in the Wood Buffalo-Aransas flock. In view of concerted regulatory <br />attention and concern associated with proposed water resource applications <br />involving the Platte River, particular focus has been placed on evaluating the <br />species? use of this system, a portion of which was designated as critical <br />habitat in 1978. Information collected during recent monitoring studies has <br />been summarized and analyzed from Service progress reports and other documents, <br />and presented in context with an assessment of the historical data base. <br />Key information presented in this executive summary follows the general flow of <br />the report text. Major sections in the main body of the report that provide <br />supportive detail have been identified for convenient cross - reference. <br />MIGRATION DYNAMICS <br />Migration Corridor (Section 2.1) : In the spring of each year whooping cranes <br />depart on a 2,400 mile journey which takes them from their wintering grounds at <br />Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to their breeding grounds at Wood <br />Buffalo National Park located along the border between Canada's Alberta <br />province and Northwest Territories. In the fall this trip is reversed. The <br />primary migration corridor connecting the wintering and breeding grounds ranges <br />from 80 to 120 miles wide and courses through the center of Nebraska <br />intersecting a stretch of the Platte River from North Platte--at the confluence <br />of the North and South Platte rivers - -to Grand Island. <br />Miaration Chronology (Section 2.2) : Spring departures from Aransas NWR start <br />as early as late March and continue until late April or early May. Arrival at <br />Wood Buffalo National Park takes place from approximately April 20 through <br />m d -May. Fall departures from Wood Buffalo National Park begin around <br />September 12 and by September 26, all whooping cranes have usually left the <br />breedi ng grounds. Completion of the trip to Aransas typically occurs between <br />early October and mid - November. <br />Based on confirmed sightings from 1940 -1984, spring migrants have been reported <br />in Nebraska as early as March 29 and as late as May 9; however, most birds have <br />been observed from April 7 through April 20. Fall migrants have been reported <br />in the state from October 3 through November 21, with the majority of birds <br />observed between October 17 and November 10 (inclusive). <br />i <br />