A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DIETS OF WILD AND REINTRODUCED WHOOPING CRANES (GRUS AMERICANA)
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Date
2020-04-30
Type of Work
Department
Hood College Biology
Program
Hood College Biomedical and Environmental
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
Abstract
Grus americana, the Whooping Crane, is an endangered species of crane residing solely within North America. As the result of indiscriminate shooting prior to the 1920s and habitat destruction, population numbers for the Whooping Crane dropped to 21-22 individuals in 1941. Captive breeding began at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in 1967. In 2001, a second wild migratory population was established using captive-bred Whooping Cranes. These birds breed in Wisconsin and winter in Florida and other southern states. Using proventriculus and ventriculus contents from dead birds collected from the both the new Wisconsin-Florida population – also called the Eastern Migratory Population – and the wild Wood Buffalo-Aransas population, the diets were compared. The wild population consumed beetles, crabs/crayfish, vegetation, seeds, mollusks and unidentified vertebrates. The new population consumed benthic invertebrates, beetles, crabs/crayfish, vegetation, seeds, mollusks and unidentifiable vertebrates. Both populations also consumed a variety of non-food items, including plastic and metal. There were no statistical differences found between the quantities of each food type found by each population. We can conclude, therefore, that the wild and reintroduced Whooping Crane populations are consuming similar types and amounts of food.