My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
Browse
Search
Whooping Crane Recovery Plan
CWCB
>
Water Supply Protection
>
DayForward
>
5001-6000
>
Whooping Crane Recovery Plan
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
2/28/2013 3:39:42 PM
Creation date
1/29/2013 3:46:14 PM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
Description
related to the Platte River Endangered Species Partnership (aka Platte River Recovery Implementation Program or PRRIP)
State
CO
NE
WY
Basin
South Platte
Water Division
1
Date
2/11/1994
Author
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Title
Whooping Crane Recovery Plan
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
98
PDF
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
10 <br />(Car ex aauatilis), musk -grass Chara sue.), and other a <br />1956, Novakowski 1965, 1966, Kuyt 1976-4,1976h, <br />are common (Allen <br />Nest sites are being located in the rushes or sedges of marshes, sloughs, or along lake <br />margins (Bent 1926). Allen (1956) found an abundance of invertebrates, primarily mollusks, <br />crustaceans, and aquatic insects, in the ponds occupied by nesting pairs. He also <br />encountered several species of minnows, frogs, and garter snakes (Thamnoohis gp.), and <br />believed that mollusks and frogs must be important items in the diet of breeding adults and <br />their offspring. <br />Lightning - caused fires have burned large portions of the nesting area during drought (e.g., <br />1981), but losses of eggs, chicks, or adults have not been confirmed. Molting adults or <br />flightless young would be vulnerable to fire. Wildfire may be beneficial to cranes due to <br />removal of dense or tall vegetation thus making the area more accessible for whooping <br />crane use and recycling nutrients. <br />Although the quality of the nesting habitat can be debated, there is no evidence that growth <br />of the AWP is limited by habitat. Hatching success is high in most years (Kuyt 19769, <br />1981 a, 1981 _b) and the area is remote from human activities. Thousands of hectares of <br />unoccupied, apparently similar habitat are available in the area. Some new pairs pioneer <br />unoccupied nesting habitat as the population increases (Kuyt 19780. A project of Parks <br />Canada is underway to identify the suitable unoccupied nesting habitat within WBNP. <br />Whooping cranes use a variety of habitats during migration (Howe 1987, 1989, Lingle <br />1987,. Lingle gJ _4I. 1991). Twenty -seven cranes were monitored for one or more seasons, <br />including nine radio- marked birds and others that associated with them (Howe 1987, 1989). <br />They fed primarily in a variety of croplands and roosted in palustrine (marshy) wetlands. A <br />majority of the roosting wetlands were less than 4 ha (75 percent) and within 1 km of a <br />suitable feeding site. More than 40 percent of the roosting wetlands were smaller than 0.5 <br />ha. Although heavily vegetated wetlands were generally not used, family groups appeared <br />to select more heavily vegetated wetlands than non - families (Howe 1987, 1989). Cropland <br />accounted for 70 percent of the feeding sites of non - families, but wetlands accounted for <br />67 percent of the feeding sites of families. <br />N Whooping cranes also roost in riverine habitat, most notably the Platte River, Middle Loup <br />River, and Niobrara River in Nebraska; Cimarron River in Oklahoma; and the Red River in <br />Texas (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed sighting records). Cranes roost on <br />submerged sandbars in wide unobstructed channels that are isolated from human <br />disturbance (Armbruster 1990). Large palustrine wetlands are used for roosting and feeding <br />during migration. Included in this category are those at Quivira NWR in Kansas (68 <br />confirmed sightings), Salt Plains NWR in Oklahoma (61 sightings confirmed), Cheyenne <br />Bottoms State Wildlife Area (34 sightings confirmed), and large reservoir margins in the <br />Dakotas. <br />About 9,000 ha of salt flats on Aransas NWR and adjacent islands comprise the principal <br />wintering grounds (Fig 3) Marshes are dominated by salt grass (Distichlis soicata) , <br />saltwort (Batis maritime), smooth cordgrass r in A alterniflora), glasswort (Salicornia gp.), <br />and sea ox -eye (Borrichia frute_ scens). Inland margins of the flats are dominated by Gulf <br />cordgrass (Soartina soartinae ). Interior portions of the refuge are gently rolling and sandy <br />
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.