Life Sciences Commons^™

2023 Coordinated Spring Survey Of Mid-Continent Sandhill Cranes, Terry Liddick

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

The aerial transect portion of the coordinated spring survey of mid-continent Sandhill cranes was conducted on March 22, 2023 in Nebraska’s Central Platte and North Platte River valleys (United States). The 2023 photo-corrected aerial estimate is 1,259,000 birds. Outside the traditional aerial transect portion, observers conducted ground surveys during the period March 20–22. From these regions, observers in the Official Survey Area (OSA) of Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming reported an additional 25,363 cranes. The 2023 total estimate (1,284,500) increased 43.1% from 2022. The current three-year average (2021–2023 with no photo correction in 2021), based on photo corrected estimates …

Contaminant Exposure And Reproductive Health Of Sandhill Cranes In The Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska., Matthew S. Schwarz, Christina D. Lydick, Karen J. Nelson, Timothy S. Gross

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

The central Platte River Valley provides crucial staging habitat for the endangered whooping crane (Grus americana) and the mid-continent population of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis). Platte River flow depletions and the conversion of native wet meadows for agriculture and other purposes has decreased the cranes natural habitat in the central Platte River Valley, and waste corn now makes up most of the cranes diet while they are in the Valley.

The purpose of this research was to measure organochlorine, elemental contaminant, and pesticide exposure to sandhill cranes from the central Platte River Valley, and to evaluate their reproductive condition. Pesticides …