Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes
We examined the reproductive parameters of the introduced non-migratory flock of whooping cranes in Florida. Of 289 cranes introduced, 67 males and 65 females survived at least 3 years. The first behavioral pairs appeared in 1995, and eggs were first laid in 1999. In total, eggs were laid in 47 nest...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Text |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/201 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/nacwgproc/article/1201/viewcontent/Spalding.pdf |
id |
ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:nacwgproc-1201 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:nacwgproc-1201 2023-11-12T04:27:58+01:00 Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes Spalding, Marilyn G. Folk, Martin J. Nesbitt, Stephen A. 2008-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/201 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/nacwgproc/article/1201/viewcontent/Spalding.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/201 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/nacwgproc/article/1201/viewcontent/Spalding.pdf Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop fertility Florida Grus americana non-migratory reproduction whooping crane Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ornithology Population Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology text 2008 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T11:16:05Z We examined the reproductive parameters of the introduced non-migratory flock of whooping cranes in Florida. Of 289 cranes introduced, 67 males and 65 females survived at least 3 years. The first behavioral pairs appeared in 1995, and eggs were first laid in 1999. In total, eggs were laid in 47 nests, 17 chicks hatched, and 4 young fledged by 2005. Severe drought conditions through 2001 were thought to be the reason for low reproductive nest success. In 2003 nesting conditions improved and 71% of nests with eggs, hatched chicks. During the next 2 years, with continued wet conditions, the proportion of pairs that laid eggs increased, but only 17% of those nests hatched. Embryos could not be seen in most of the decomposed eggs that were examined. In an effort to determine the cause for the low reproductive success of the flock, we examined the effects of behavioral pair formation, mortality, gonad size and histology, age, egg laying, hatching success, egg size, fertility, and egg microbial culture results on nesting success. When compared with the natural wild Aransas/Wood Buffalo flock, the productivity of birds reaching 8 years (100% egg laying, hatching, 60% fledging) was very low. When compared with the originating captive flock, however, evidence of fertility was similar. Productivity did however, increase in the captive flock beyond 8 years of age. At the time of this report, the reproductive birds in the Florida resident flock remain relatively young when compared with the captive flock. Therefore there may be improvement of reproductive success as the Florida flock ages. Text Wood Buffalo University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL Wood Buffalo ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnebraskali |
language |
unknown |
topic |
fertility Florida Grus americana non-migratory reproduction whooping crane Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ornithology Population Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology |
spellingShingle |
fertility Florida Grus americana non-migratory reproduction whooping crane Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ornithology Population Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Spalding, Marilyn G. Folk, Martin J. Nesbitt, Stephen A. Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes |
topic_facet |
fertility Florida Grus americana non-migratory reproduction whooping crane Animal Sciences Behavior and Ethology Biodiversity Ornithology Population Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology |
description |
We examined the reproductive parameters of the introduced non-migratory flock of whooping cranes in Florida. Of 289 cranes introduced, 67 males and 65 females survived at least 3 years. The first behavioral pairs appeared in 1995, and eggs were first laid in 1999. In total, eggs were laid in 47 nests, 17 chicks hatched, and 4 young fledged by 2005. Severe drought conditions through 2001 were thought to be the reason for low reproductive nest success. In 2003 nesting conditions improved and 71% of nests with eggs, hatched chicks. During the next 2 years, with continued wet conditions, the proportion of pairs that laid eggs increased, but only 17% of those nests hatched. Embryos could not be seen in most of the decomposed eggs that were examined. In an effort to determine the cause for the low reproductive success of the flock, we examined the effects of behavioral pair formation, mortality, gonad size and histology, age, egg laying, hatching success, egg size, fertility, and egg microbial culture results on nesting success. When compared with the natural wild Aransas/Wood Buffalo flock, the productivity of birds reaching 8 years (100% egg laying, hatching, 60% fledging) was very low. When compared with the originating captive flock, however, evidence of fertility was similar. Productivity did however, increase in the captive flock beyond 8 years of age. At the time of this report, the reproductive birds in the Florida resident flock remain relatively young when compared with the captive flock. Therefore there may be improvement of reproductive success as the Florida flock ages. |
format |
Text |
author |
Spalding, Marilyn G. Folk, Martin J. Nesbitt, Stephen A. |
author_facet |
Spalding, Marilyn G. Folk, Martin J. Nesbitt, Stephen A. |
author_sort |
Spalding, Marilyn G. |
title |
Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes |
title_short |
Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes |
title_full |
Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes |
title_fullStr |
Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reproductive Health of the Florida Flock of Introduced Whooping Cranes |
title_sort |
reproductive health of the florida flock of introduced whooping cranes |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/201 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/nacwgproc/article/1201/viewcontent/Spalding.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) |
geographic |
Wood Buffalo |
geographic_facet |
Wood Buffalo |
genre |
Wood Buffalo |
genre_facet |
Wood Buffalo |
op_source |
Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/201 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/nacwgproc/article/1201/viewcontent/Spalding.pdf |
_version_ |
1782341367424352256 |