Diurnal Activity Budgets of Pre-Nesting Sandhill Cranes in Arctic Canada

During a study of pre-nesting waterfowl in the central Canadian Arctic, we tested the predictions that: (1) male cranes feed less and spend more time alert than females, but that the differences would be less marked than among arctic nesting geese, and (2) the nesting phenology of cranes precede tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Wilson bulletin (Wilson Ornithological Society) 1995-12, Vol.107 (4), p.752-756
Main Authors: Fox, Anthony D., Boyd, Hugh, Bromley, Robert G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Aves
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Bird nesting
Birds
Breeding
Cranes (Birds)
Eggs
Eggs and nests
Female animals
Foraging
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geese
Grus canadensis
Locomotion
Male animals
Mating behavior
Short Communications
Vertebrata
Waterfowl
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Summary:During a study of pre-nesting waterfowl in the central Canadian Arctic, we tested the predictions that: (1) male cranes feed less and spend more time alert than females, but that the differences would be less marked than among arctic nesting geese, and (2) the nesting phenology of cranes precede that of locally breeding Greater White-fronted and Canada geese because: (1) most of the cranes' reproductive material is endogenously derived, and (2) first egg-date of cranes is more dependent on snow melt (i.e., nest site availability) than on female acquisition of nutrient reserves. Pre-nesting behavioral observations were made in 8 km super(2) of tundra at the Walker Bay Field Station (WBFS) of the Northwest Territories Department of Renewable Resources on the Kent Peninsula, NWT, Canada (68 degree 20'N, 108 degree 05'W).
ISSN:0043-5643
2162-5204