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When a confirmed whooping crane group is located through the ground surveys the ground crew <br />will be immediately notified to begin monitoring habitat use. <br />III.C. Timing - <br />Ground surveys of the river to locate whooping crane groups will be conducted in the spring <br />from March 25 to approximately April 30. Ground monitoring to conduct movement tracking <br />and use site monitoring will begin March 10. <br />IV. METHODS <br />W.A. Definitions <br />Crane activity - <br />Feeding activity, - crane walking in an area flipping over objects and probing for food. <br />Resting activity- crane standing still in one place <br />Preening activity- crane preening feathers <br />Courtship activity- cranes performing unison display <br />Alert- Crane alert and scanning horizon, possible neck extension. <br />Crane group — one or more cranes in a migrating unit. May be an individual crane, a family unit, <br />or small flock. <br />Sighting — observation of a crane group in the study area. <br />Confirmed Sighting - Observation made by a State or Federal biologist or officer or by <br />other known qualified observer (trained ornithologist or birder with experience in <br />identification of whooping cranes). A photograph may also be used to confirm sightings. <br />Probable Sighting - No confirmation made by State or Federal biologist or officer or by <br />other known qualified observer, yet details of the sighting seem to identify the birds as <br />whooping cranes. To be classified as a probable sighting each of the following factors <br />must be met: (1) location of sighting is within normal migration corridor and is an <br />appropriate site for whooping cranes, (2) date of sighting is within period of migration, <br />(3) accurate physical description, (4) number of birds is reasonable, (5) behavior of the <br />birds does not eliminate whooping cranes, and (6) good probability that the observer <br />would provide a reliable report. <br />Unconfirmed Sighting - Details of the sighting meet some, but not all of the six factors <br />listed for a probable sighting. <br />Stopover — Use of the study area during spring or fall migration <br />Use Site - A location on the ground of a crane group. A single crane group may have (and likely <br />will have) more than one use site per day. <br />IV.B. Field Techniques <br />IV. B.1 Detecting /Locating Whooping Crane Stopovers <br />March 12, 2001 Draft Protocol 4 <br />