Fourteen greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) were trained to follow a specially-equipped truck and 12 were led along a ca 620-Ian route from Camp Navajo in northern Arizona to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near the ArizonalMexico border. Ten survived the trek, 380 Ian of which were flown, although only a few cranes flew every stage of the route. Major problems during the migration were powerline collisions (ca 15, 2 fatal) and overheating (when air temperatures exceeded ca 25° C). The tenacity of the cranes in following both in 1995 and 1996 under unfavorable conditions (e.g., poor light, exireme dust, or heat) demonstrated that cranes could be led over long distances by motorized vehicles on the ground

CLAUSS, BRIAN

ELLIS, CATHERINE H.

ELLIS, DAVID H.

MUMMERT, DANIEL P.

MYKUT, R. CURT

SHAWKEY, MATT

SPRAGUE, DANIEL T.

TRAHAN, F. BENJAMIN

WATANABE, TSUYOSHI

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - LincolnDigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - LincolnNorth American Crane Workshop Proceedings North American Crane Working Group2001RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996)EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ONMIGRATION BEHIND A MOTORIZEDGROUND VEHICLEDAVID H. ELLISUSGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, david_h_ellis@usgs.govBRIAN CLAUSSUSGS Patuxent Wildlife Research CenterTSUYOSHI WATANABETexas A&M UniversityR. CURT MYKUTUSGS Patuxent Wildlife Research CenterMATT SHAWKEYUSGS Patuxent Wildlife Research CenterSee next page for additional authorsFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgprocPart of the Behavior and Ethology Commons, Biodiversity Commons, Ornithology Commons,Population Biology Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the North American Crane Working Group at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska -Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in North American Crane Workshop Proceedings by an authorized administrator ofDigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.ELLIS, DAVID H.; CLAUSS, BRIAN; WATANABE, TSUYOSHI; MYKUT, R. CURT; SHAWKEY, MATT; MUMMERT, DANIELP.; SPRAGUE, DANIEL T.; ELLIS, CATHERINE H.; and TRAHAN, F. BENJAMIN, "RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996)EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ON MIGRATION BEHIND A MOTORIZED GROUND VEHICLE" (2001). North AmericanCrane Workshop Proceedings. 58.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/58AuthorsDAVID H. ELLIS, BRIAN CLAUSS, TSUYOSHI WATANABE, R. CURT MYKUT, MATT SHAWKEY,DANIEL P. MUMMERT, DANIEL T. SPRAGUE, CATHERINE H. ELLIS, and F. BENJAMIN TRAHANThis article is available at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/58RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996) EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ON MIGRATION BEHIND A MOTORIZED GROUND VEHICLE DAVID H. ELLIS, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA BRIAN CLAUSS, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12302 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD 20708-4022, USA TSUYOsmWATANABE, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 210 Nagle Hall, 2258 TAMUS, College Station, TX 77843-2258, USA R CURT MYKUT, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA MATT SHA WKEY, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA DANIEL P. MUMMERT, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 403 South Leroux, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA DANIEL T. SPRAGUE, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA CATHERINE H. ELLIS, Institute for Raptor Studies, HC 1 Box 4420, Oracle, AZ 85623 USA F. BENJAMIN TRAHAN, City of Tucson, Information Technology, 481 West Paseo Redondo, Tucson, AZ 85701 USA Abstract: Fourteen greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) were trained to follow a specially-equipped truck and 12 were led along a ca 620-Ian route from Camp Navajo in northern Arizona to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near the ArizonalMexico border. Ten survived the trek, 380 Ian of which were flown, although only a few cranes flew every stage of the route. Major problems during the migration were powerline collisions (ca 15, 2 fatal) and overheating (when air temperatures exceeded ca 25° C). The tenacity of the cranes in following both in 1995 and 1996 under unfavorable conditions (e.g., poor light, exireme dust, or heat) demonstrated that cranes could be led over long distances by motorized vehicles on the ground. PROCEEDINGS NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 8: 122-126 Key words: Grus canadensis, migration, reintroduction techniques, sandhill crane. In an attempt to develop techniques for establishing additional migratory flocks of whooping cranes (Grus americana), 2 truck-led migrations of sandhill cranes, as research surrogates, were conducted. The first of these was reported earlier (Ellis et al. 1997). The second experiment is described below (Fig. 1). Various experiments to lead cranes by ultralight aircraft and other means have been reported earlier or are reported in this volume. A brief summary of the various experiments is also found in this volume (Ellis et aI. 2001a). METHODS The Rearing and Training Process Birds used in the 1996 ex,})eriment were generally reared as described for hand-reared Mississippi sandhill cranes (G. c. pulla) (Ellis et al. 1992) as modified for the 1995 trucking migration (Ellis et al. 1997, Ellis 2001). All birds were again reared at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (patuxent). A major deviation from the 1995 rearing regime was a costume change from the red cap and blue and white jacket used in 1995 to a gray poncho that fell to mid-thigh and a IE-mail: david_h_eUis@usgs.gov 122 gray hood. Another deviation was that birds in 1996 were reared from hatching with a gray plastic crane decoy in their pen. Details in rearing are illustrated in Fig. 2. During our 1996 training at Camp Navajo, we added an electric (anti-predator) fence circling our netted crane pen. Deviations during the 1996 migration were as follows. In 1996, the birds were never penned overnight: they merely wandered around and roosted around camp at will. However, they normally roosted near our 2 plastic crane decoys. In Fig. 1. The 1996 trucking migration in progress. (photo by Joseph W. Duff.) Proc. NorthAm. Crane Workshop 8:2001 1996 TRUCKING MIGRATION • Ellis et al. 123 Age in Days (Halch Day = 0) -3 -2 -I 0 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 101-110 110-120 121-130 Tape recording Live imprinting model Taxidermic brooder model & head Follow human - walk Mealworm treat Stand in stationary truck Ramp training begins .... Flag exposure begins Whistle exposure begins ... ,-Riding in truck begins ... , ... Follow truck - walk Follow truck - run-flap FOllow truck - fly (Maryland) Plastic decoy Flight training ~ Arizona Migration begins .... All birds oflhis age performed or exposed ~" Some birds orthis age performed or exposed Fig. 2. Sandhill crane training time line. Plastic decoy was left in pen of youngest crane chicks when not in use with a group. 1996 we used battery-powered (not solar-powered) leg-band transmitters. Four motor vehicles were used in 1996 (versus 3 in 1995). More persons (8) attended the 1996 migration, and we did not force the cranes to migrate during hot weather. This last change made it unnecessary for us to flush our cranes into flight as we so often did in 1995. In 1995,4 of our cranes were trucked west to Arizona. The remaining 1995 birds and all of our 1996 birds were crated and flown west. Flight training is summarized in Table 1. As is evident there, we had some difficulty fusing the older and younger groups, so most (all but 5 flights on all but 3 days) of our flights were with the 2 groups separate. By the time of the migration, the older group had flown 13 3 km in 25 flights on 12 days, while for the younger group, these values were 117 km in 41 flights on 18 days. The Migration Because of our difficulty controlling the 2 groups when flown together, we decided to keep the groups separate for the first day of the migration. From experience in 1995, we reasoned that once the cranes were far from the familiarity of the camp, they would be more anxious to stay close to the cranemobile (Le., our army ambulance) and therefore more willing to tolerate birds from the other group. For both groups, a plastic crane decoy was attached to the rear of the cranemobile to help lure the birds along. RESULTS The 1996 migration took fewer days (8 days [Table 2] compared to 13 days) than in 1995. It began on 12 October and ended on 19 October (Table 3). Flights totaled ca 380 km in 1996 compared to 495 in 1995. Details of the migration flights of the separate (older and younger) groups and later their joint flights are reported in Table 3. The route south Table 1. Details of the flight training of sandhill cranes flying behind motorized ground vehicles at the Navajo Army Depot, Belmont, Arizona. Older Group Younger Group (6) (8) Total number of flights 25 on 17 days 41 on 18 days over 30 days over 30 days Dates 11 Sept to 11 Sept to 11 Oct 1999 11 Oct 1999 Total flight distance 133.3 km 117.1km Total flight time 3hr2min 2 hr28 min Flock size: number (total) 6 (6) 5 (8) 124 1996 TRUC:I<mG MIGRATION • Ellis et al. Table 2. A comparison of the 1995 and 1996 sandhill crane migrations behind motorized ground vehicles. 1995 1996 1996 (Older) (Younger) Duration: calendar days 13 8 6 Nmnber offlights 29 24 22 Total distance flown 495km 378km 382km Total distance trucked 124km 237km 235km Total flight time 11m 8hr 8m 37 min 39 min 13 min Average altimde 28m 39m 38m Average speed 46.3 kmIhr 46.9 km/hr 48.5 km/hr Fastest speed 78 kmIhr 75.7 km/hr 75.7 km/hr Longest flight 77km 55km 55km Length of the migration 619km 614km 617km (Fig. 3) in 1996 closely paralleled the 1995 route (illustrated in Ellis et al. 1997). For only about 13 kIn (inunediately south of the Gila River) were the routes not identical. The differences between route length were 619 in 1995 and about 616 in 1996 (Table 2). In all, the older group flew 377 kIn: the younger group flew 382'km (although only 4 birds in each group flew all segments). Both migrations presented hazards. Indeed, our route was chosen to give the cranes many (over 120) sets of powerlines to cross (to assess risks to surrogate sandhill cranes before we work with whooping cranes). In 1995, 1 crane died from a powerline collision. In 1996, 2 died and we observed ca 15 non-injury collisions. Our 1996 migration proceeded much faster than in 1995 partially because we had no eagle attacks and partially because midday temperatures were lower in the Sonoran Desert, so we were able to fly the birds with less overheating. As in 1995, we sprayed the legs of our birds (for cooling purposes) whenever we detected panting. We had another curious difference between years. In 1995, all 10 birds transported west for training began the migration and participated regularly. In 1996, 2 (ofl4) birds proved unruly during training and would not participate with the flock. A third bird flew only the beginning and ending flights (3 of 22 flights). One of these 3 actually left on migration on its own and was retrieved only after the migra-tion was completed An overview of 1996 was that 11 of 14 birds participated >------< Older Group ' ... 00.' Younger Group I----i Corrbined Group - Overnight Stop - Tennlnus Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 8:2001 Garland Prairie - .FLAGSTAFF i: 120ctr~ r 13 Oct !'" Chino Valley 14 Oct Picacho Reservoir Fig. 3. 1996 trucking migration route. well, but 2 of these later died on powerlines, so 9 completed the migration having flown nearly all segments. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The primary hazard during both migrations was power-lines. Many near and minor collisions were observed. Two were fatal. Future routes for endangered cranes should minimize powerline crossings and the team should stop when approaching a powerline if the cranes are at the altitude of the conductors. Because of the difficulty in 1995 of keeping the birds in view while following winding roads through dense, tall forests, in 1996, we trucked our birds past most of the pine forests near Camp Navajo and reconunend avoiding dense forests in the future. A big difficulty in 1995 was eagle attacks. In 1996, we had no attacks, but this was at least in part due to our more aggressive actions. Namely, where eagle attacks were most likely, we sent a vehicle ahead to fire several warning shots before the flock arrived. On our only encounter with an eagle in 1996, our flock flushed an eagle from a powerpole; it was the eagle that moved aside until our cranes passed. From trucking and ultralight migrations in the West, we recognize Proc. NorthAm. Crane Workshop 8:2001 1996 TRUCKING MIGRATION· Ellis et al. 125 Table 3. Details of the 1996 trucking migration (distances in km) of sandhill cranes behind motorized ground vehicles in Arizona. Flights Transport in truck Total distance Flock Date Group size Number Duration Distance Number Distance Day progress Older Younger group group 12 Oct Older 5_6" 5 1hr41 min 58.8 4 22.4 81.1 81.1 0 13 Oct Older 5 17 min 12.6 0 0 12.6 93.7 0 14 Oct Younger 5-6 4 1 hr 33 min 76.3 2 19.8 96.1 93.7 96.1 14 Oct Old.lYng. 10 2 21 min 17.1 0 0 17.1 110.8 113.2 15 Oct Old.lYng. 10 3 1 hr 54 min 97.1 2 18.2 115.3 226.0 228.5 16 Oct Old.lYng. 10 2 1hr8min 60.5 2 39.1 99.7 325.7 328.1 17 Oct Old.lYng. 10 3 1 hr42 min 70.7 51.4 122.0 447.7 450.2 18 Oct Old.lYng. 9_lOb 5 1 hr 11 min 46.0 3 63.6 109.6 557.4 559.8 19 Oct Old.lYng. 10' 3 24 min 14.3 42.7 57.0 614.4 616.8 Totals 8 days Older 5_6d 24 8 hr 39 min 377.1 13 237.3 614.4 6 days Younger 4_6' 22 8 hr 13 min 382.1 11 234.7 616.8 • No. 40 hit a powerline and died. b No. 98 hit a poweriine and died. 'This value remains at 10 (rather than 9 as might be expected following the powerline death on 18 October) because 1 crane (an unruly bird) that had only flown on 1 prior day was also allowed to fly on this day. d Four cranes in the older group flew every flown segment and a fIfth survivor flew all but 4 segments. , Four cranes in younger group flew every flown segment and a fIfth survivor flew only 3 segments. urge that, in the future, routes be chosen to minimize the potential for eagle attacks. Our greatest difficulty in 1995 was the unseasonably warm temperatures encountered as we traversed the Sonoran Desert. This was much less of a problem in 1996 because we departed later. We recognize that the problem can be avoided entirely by having motorized migrations simulate what the cranes do naturally. Namely, they move from summering areas to pool up at staging areas until environmental cues push them further south. Because of overheating and eagle attacks, our 1995 migration required 13 calendar days. In 1996, we were able to shorten this to 8 days for the older group and 6 days for the younger group. Other year comparisons are in Table 2. Both years, but especially 1996, prove that it is possible to effi-ciently lead cranes long distances in unforested areas. We had 100% success keeping the cranes alive (10 in 1995 and 14 in 1996) during training and had only 2 or 3 of 24 birds prove uncooperative by the time of migration. By the end of our migrations, all of our cranes both years had enough experience with uncostumed (or partially cos-tumed) humans that they were acclimated to humans and were prone to become nuisance birds (Ellis 2001, Mummert et al. 2001). With further changes in rearing, training, and migration, we are confident that such birds can be made to avoid humans (see Urbanek and Bookhout 1992, Clegg et al. 1997, Duff et al. 2001, Ellis et al. 2001 a). We overcame this tameness in 1996 by releasing our birds 1 or 2 at a time into a wild flock (Ellis et al. 200 Ib) near Gila Bend, Arizona. Just as for the 1995 ultralight experiment (Clegg et al. 1997), once the experimental cranes integrated into the wild flock, they no longer approached humans. In the final analysis, this technique must be evaluated on the basis of the cranes' ability to migrate t() and from our chosen summering and wintering areas. This propensity is treated in detail elsewhere (Ellis 2001, Ellis et al. 2001a; Mummert et al. 2001), but briefly, we now have good evi-dence that many of the trucking and ultralight-led cranes did learn appropriate cues to lead them to and from our chosen termini. However, they seem to follow their own (not our) 126 1996 mUCKING MIGRATION· Ellis et al. routes. Motorized ground vehicles proved to be a practical means for leading cranes long distances. We recommend use of the technique for migrations where there is good expectation of long bouts of foul weather, frequent windy weather, or other serious flying hazards. Leading cranes by ground vehicles may also be the most efficient method for crossing unforested habitat where fuel and landing strips for aircraft are scarce or marginal. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We greatly appreciate Colonel L. Triphahn for allowing our use of a remote comer of the Navajo Army Depot near Belmont, Arizona, to train our birds. Sergeant D. Hack coordinated our activities on the depot. W. Shifflett and his staff at the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge hosted our wintering cranes and assisted with bird care. The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) greatly assisted us by passing along locations of wayward birds and often helped transport birds. J. G. Goodwin, Jr. and P. Smith, both of AGFD, coordinated many of these efforts. C. Van Cleave helped care for wayward cranes during and after our odyssey. We thank NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center for support in monitoring our birds by satellite. Most fundamental of all, we thank G. F. Gee, T. Fontaine, K. 0' Malley, J. Nicolich, and all of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center rearing staff for supporting the project. Thanks to Heather Ray of Operation Migraton for preparing our map. The senior author extends his great appreciation to Brian Clauss who led the training teams both years and, at great personal sacrifice, insisted on always assuming the dusty and dangerous role of riding in the open back of the cranemobile, calling to the cranes during migration. Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 8:2001 LITERATURE CITED Clegg, K. 1., J. C. Lewis, and D. H. Ellis. 1997. Use of ultralight aircraft for introducing migratory crane popUlations. Proceed-ings North American Crane Workshop 7:105-113. Duff, J. w., W. A. Lishman, D. A. Clark, G. F. Gee, D. T. Sprague, and D. H. Ellis. 2001. Promoting wildness in sandhill cranes conditioned to follow an ultralight aircraft. Proceedings North American Crane Workshop 8:115-121. Ellis, D. H. 2001. Wings across the desert. Hancock House, Blaine, Washington, USA. ----' B. Clauss, T. Watanabe, R. C. Mykut, M. Kinloch, and C. H. Ellis. 1997. Results of an experiment to lead cranes on migration behind motorized ground vehicles. Proceedings North American Crane Workshop 7:114-122. __ , K. R. Clegg, J. C. Lewis, and E. SpaUlding. 1999. Golden eagle predation on experimental sandhill and whooping cranes. Condor 101:664-666. ----' G. F. Gee, K. R. Clegg, J. W. Duff, W. A. Lishman, and W. J. L. Sladen. 2001a. Lessons from the motorized migrations. Proceedings North American Crane Workshop 8: 13 9-144. __ , D. P. Mununert, R. P. Urbanek, M. Kinloch, C. Mellon, T. Dolbeare, and D. P. Ossi. 200lb. The one-by-one method for releasing cranes. Proceedings North American Crane Work-shop 8:225. ----' G. H. Olsen, G. F. Gee, J. M. Nicolich, K. E. 0' Malley, M. Nagendran, S. G. Hereford, P. Range, W. T. Harper, R. P. Ingram, and D. G. Smith. 1992. Techniques for rearing and releasing nonmigratory cranes: lessons from the Mississippi sandhill crane program. Proceedings North American Crane Workshop 6:135-14l. Mummert, D. P., D. H. Ellis, and C. L. Chambers. 200l. Fate of the survivors of the 1995 and 1996 Arizona trucking migrations of costume-reared greater sandhill cranes. Proceedings North American Crane Workshop 8:127-13l. Urbanek, R. P., and T. A. Bookhout. 1992. Development of an isolation-rearing/gentle release procedure for reintroducing migratory cranes. Proceedings North American Crane Work-shop 6:120-130. 

RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996) EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ON MIGRATION
BEHIND A MOTORIZED GROUND VEHICLE

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North American Crane Workshop Proceedings North American Crane Working Group
2001
RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996)
EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ON
MIGRATION BEHIND A MOTORIZED
GROUND VEHICLE
DAVID H. ELLIS
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, david_h_ellis@usgs.gov
BRIAN CLAUSS
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
TSUYOSHI WATANABE
Texas A&M University
R. CURT MYKUT
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
MATT SHAWKEY
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
See next page for additional authorsFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc
Part of the Behavior and Ethology Commons, Biodiversity Commons, Ornithology Commons,
Population Biology Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the North American Crane Working Group at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska -
Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in North American Crane Workshop Proceedings by an authorized administrator of
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
ELLIS, DAVID H.; CLAUSS, BRIAN; WATANABE, TSUYOSHI; MYKUT, R. CURT; SHAWKEY, MATT; MUMMERT, DANIEL
P.; SPRAGUE, DANIEL T.; ELLIS, CATHERINE H.; and TRAHAN, F. BENJAMIN, "RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996)
EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ON MIGRATION BEHIND A MOTORIZED GROUND VEHICLE" (2001). North American
Crane Workshop Proceedings. 58.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/58
Authors
DAVID H. ELLIS, BRIAN CLAUSS, TSUYOSHI WATANABE, R. CURT MYKUT, MATT SHAWKEY,
DANIEL P. MUMMERT, DANIEL T. SPRAGUE, CATHERINE H. ELLIS, and F. BENJAMIN TRAHAN
This article is available at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nacwgproc/58
RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996) EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ON MIGRATION 
BEHIND A MOTORIZED GROUND VEHICLE 
DAVID H. ELLIS, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA 
BRIAN CLAUSS, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12302 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD 20708-4022, USA 
TSUYOsmWATANABE, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 210 Nagle Hall, 2258 TAMUS, 
College Station, TX 77843-2258, USA 
R CURT MYKUT, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA 
MATT SHA WKEY, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA 
DANIEL P. MUMMERT, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 403 South Leroux, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA 
DANIEL T. SPRAGUE, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA 
CATHERINE H. ELLIS, Institute for Raptor Studies, HC 1 Box 4420, Oracle, AZ 85623 USA 
F. BENJAMIN TRAHAN, City of Tucson, Information Technology, 481 West Paseo Redondo, Tucson, AZ 85701 USA 
Abstract: Fourteen greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) were trained to follow a specially-equipped truck and 12 
were led along a ca 620-Ian route from Camp Navajo in northern Arizona to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near 
the ArizonalMexico border. Ten survived the trek, 380 Ian of which were flown, although only a few cranes flew every stage 
of the route. Major problems during the migration were powerline collisions (ca 15, 2 fatal) and overheating (when air 
temperatures exceeded ca 25° C). The tenacity of the cranes in following both in 1995 and 1996 under unfavorable conditions 
(e.g., poor light, exireme dust, or heat) demonstrated that cranes could be led over long distances by motorized vehicles on the 
ground. 
PROCEEDINGS NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 8: 122-126 
Key words: Grus canadensis, migration, reintroduction techniques, sandhill crane. 
In an attempt to develop techniques for establishing 
additional migratory flocks of whooping cranes (Grus 
americana), 2 truck-led migrations of sandhill cranes, as 
research surrogates, were conducted. The first of these was 
reported earlier (Ellis et al. 1997). The second experiment is 
described below (Fig. 1). Various experiments to lead cranes 
by ultralight aircraft and other means have been reported 
earlier or are reported in this volume. A brief summary of the 
various experiments is also found in this volume (Ellis et aI. 
2001a). 
METHODS 
The Rearing and Training Process 
Birds used in the 1996 ex,})eriment were generally reared 
as described for hand-reared Mississippi sandhill cranes (G. 
c. pulla) (Ellis et al. 1992) as modified for the 1995 trucking 
migration (Ellis et al. 1997, Ellis 2001). All birds were again 
reared at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (patuxent). 
A major deviation from the 1995 rearing regime was a 
costume change from the red cap and blue and white jacket 
used in 1995 to a gray poncho that fell to mid-thigh and a 
IE-mail: david_h_eUis@usgs.gov 
122 
gray hood. Another deviation was that birds in 1996 were 
reared from hatching with a gray plastic crane decoy in their 
pen. Details in rearing are illustrated in Fig. 2. During our 
1996 training at Camp Navajo, we added an electric (anti-
predator) fence circling our netted crane pen. 
Deviations during the 1996 migration were as follows. 
In 1996, the birds were never penned overnight: they merely 
wandered around and roosted around camp at will. However, 
they normally roosted near our 2 plastic crane decoys. In 
Fig. 1. The 1996 trucking migration in progress. (photo by 
Joseph W. Duff.) 
Proc. NorthAm. Crane Workshop 8:2001 1996 TRUCKING MIGRATION • Ellis et al. 123 
Age in Days (Halch Day = 0) 
-3 -2 -I 0 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 101-110 110-120 121-130 
Tape recording 
Live imprinting model 
Taxidermic brooder model & head 
Follow human - walk 
Mealworm treat 
Stand in stationary truck 
Ramp training begins .... 
Flag exposure begins 
Whistle exposure begins 
... ,-
Riding in truck begins ... , ... 
Follow truck - walk 
Follow truck - run-flap 
FOllow truck - fly (Maryland) 
Plastic decoy 
Flight training ~ Arizona 
Migration begins 
.... All birds oflhis age performed or exposed 
~" Some birds orthis age performed or exposed 
Fig. 2. Sandhill crane training time line. Plastic decoy was left in pen of youngest crane chicks when not in use with a group. 
1996 we used battery-powered (not solar-powered) leg-band 
transmitters. Four motor vehicles were used in 1996 (versus 
3 in 1995). More persons (8) attended the 1996 migration, 
and we did not force the cranes to migrate during hot 
weather. This last change made it unnecessary for us to flush 
our cranes into flight as we so often did in 1995. 
In 1995,4 of our cranes were trucked west to Arizona. 
The remaining 1995 birds and all of our 1996 birds were 
crated and flown west. Flight training is summarized in 
Table 1. As is evident there, we had some difficulty fusing 
the older and younger groups, so most (all but 5 flights on all 
but 3 days) of our flights were with the 2 groups separate. By 
the time of the migration, the older group had flown 13 3 km 
in 25 flights on 12 days, while for the younger group, these 
values were 117 km in 41 flights on 18 days. 
The Migration 
Because of our difficulty controlling the 2 groups when 
flown together, we decided to keep the groups separate for the 
first day of the migration. From experience in 1995, we 
reasoned that once the cranes were far from the familiarity of 
the camp, they would be more anxious to stay close to the 
cranemobile (Le., our army ambulance) and therefore more 
willing to tolerate birds from the other group. For both 
groups, a plastic crane decoy was attached to the rear of the 
cranemobile to help lure the birds along. 
RESULTS 
The 1996 migration took fewer days (8 days [Table 2] 
compared to 13 days) than in 1995. It began on 12 October 
and ended on 19 October (Table 3). Flights totaled ca 380 km 
in 1996 compared to 495 in 1995. Details of the migration 
flights of the separate (older and younger) groups and later 
their joint flights are reported in Table 3. The route south 
Table 1. Details of the flight training of sandhill cranes flying 
behind motorized ground vehicles at the Navajo Army Depot, 
Belmont, Arizona. 
Older Group Younger Group 
(6) (8) 
Total number of flights 25 on 17 days 41 on 18 days 
over 30 days over 30 days 
Dates 11 Sept to 11 Sept to 
11 Oct 1999 11 Oct 1999 
Total flight distance 133.3 km 117.1km 
Total flight time 3hr2min 2 hr28 min 
Flock size: number (total) 6 (6) 5 (8) 
124 1996 TRUC:I<mG MIGRATION • Ellis et al. 
Table 2. A comparison of the 1995 and 1996 sandhill crane 
migrations behind motorized ground vehicles. 
1995 1996 1996 
(Older) (Younger) 
Duration: calendar days 13 8 6 
Nmnber offlights 29 24 22 
Total distance flown 495km 378km 382km 
Total distance trucked 124km 237km 235km 
Total flight time 11m 8hr 8m 
37 min 39 min 13 min 
Average altimde 28m 39m 38m 
Average speed 46.3 kmIhr 46.9 km/hr 48.5 km/hr 
Fastest speed 78 kmIhr 75.7 km/hr 75.7 km/hr 
Longest flight 77km 55km 55km 
Length of the migration 619km 614km 617km 
(Fig. 3) in 1996 closely paralleled the 1995 route (illustrated 
in Ellis et al. 1997). For only about 13 kIn (inunediately 
south of the Gila River) were the routes not identical. The 
differences between route length were 619 in 1995 and about 
616 in 1996 (Table 2). In all, the older group flew 377 kIn: 
the younger group flew 382'km (although only 4 birds in each 
group flew all segments). 
Both migrations presented hazards. Indeed, our route 
was chosen to give the cranes many (over 120) sets of 
powerlines to cross (to assess risks to surrogate sandhill 
cranes before we work with whooping cranes). In 1995, 1 
crane died from a powerline collision. In 1996, 2 died and we 
observed ca 15 non-injury collisions. 
Our 1996 migration proceeded much faster than in 1995 
partially because we had no eagle attacks and partially 
because midday temperatures were lower in the Sonoran 
Desert, so we were able to fly the birds with less overheating. 
As in 1995, we sprayed the legs of our birds (for cooling 
purposes) whenever we detected panting. 
We had another curious difference between years. In 
1995, all 10 birds transported west for training began the 
migration and participated regularly. In 1996, 2 (ofl4) birds 
proved unruly during training and would not participate with 
the flock. A third bird flew only the beginning and ending 
flights (3 of 22 flights). One of these 3 actually left on 
migration on its own and was retrieved only after the migra-
tion was completed 
An overview of 1996 was that 11 of 14 birds participated 
>------< Older Group 
' ... 00.' Younger Group 
I----i Corrbined Group 
- Overnight Stop 
- Tennlnus 
Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 8:2001 
Garland Prairie - .FLAGSTAFF i: 120ctr~ 
r 
13 Oct !'" Chino Valley 
14 Oct 
Picacho Reservoir 
Fig. 3. 1996 trucking migration route. 
well, but 2 of these later died on powerlines, so 9 completed 
the migration having flown nearly all segments. 
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 
The primary hazard during both migrations was power-
lines. Many near and minor collisions were observed. Two 
were fatal. Future routes for endangered cranes should 
minimize powerline crossings and the team should stop when 
approaching a powerline if the cranes are at the altitude of the 
conductors. 
Because of the difficulty in 1995 of keeping the birds in 
view while following winding roads through dense, tall 
forests, in 1996, we trucked our birds past most of the pine 
forests near Camp Navajo and reconunend avoiding dense 
forests in the future. 
A big difficulty in 1995 was eagle attacks. In 1996, we 
had no attacks, but this was at least in part due to our more 
aggressive actions. Namely, where eagle attacks were most 
likely, we sent a vehicle ahead to fire several warning shots 
before the flock arrived. On our only encounter with an eagle 
in 1996, our flock flushed an eagle from a powerpole; it was 
the eagle that moved aside until our cranes passed. From 
trucking and ultralight migrations in the West, we recognize 
Proc. NorthAm. Crane Workshop 8:2001 1996 TRUCKING MIGRATION· Ellis et al. 125 
Table 3. Details of the 1996 trucking migration (distances in km) of sandhill cranes behind motorized ground vehicles in Arizona. 
Flights Transport in truck Total distance 
Flock 
Date Group size Number Duration Distance Number Distance Day progress Older Younger 
group group 
12 Oct Older 5_6" 5 1hr41 min 58.8 4 22.4 81.1 81.1 0 
13 Oct Older 5 17 min 12.6 0 0 12.6 93.7 0 
14 Oct Younger 5-6 4 1 hr 33 min 76.3 2 19.8 96.1 93.7 96.1 
14 Oct Old.lYng. 10 2 21 min 17.1 0 0 17.1 110.8 113.2 
15 Oct Old.lYng. 10 3 1 hr 54 min 97.1 2 18.2 115.3 226.0 228.5 
16 Oct Old.lYng. 10 2 1hr8min 60.5 2 39.1 99.7 325.7 328.1 
17 Oct Old.lYng. 10 3 1 hr42 min 70.7 51.4 122.0 447.7 450.2 
18 Oct Old.lYng. 9_lOb 5 1 hr 11 min 46.0 3 63.6 109.6 557.4 559.8 
19 Oct Old.lYng. 10' 3 24 min 14.3 42.7 57.0 614.4 616.8 
Totals 
8 days Older 5_6d 24 8 hr 39 min 377.1 13 237.3 614.4 
6 days Younger 4_6' 22 8 hr 13 min 382.1 11 234.7 616.8 
• No. 40 hit a powerline and died. 
b No. 98 hit a poweriine and died. 
'This value remains at 10 (rather than 9 as might be expected following the powerline death on 18 October) because 1 crane (an unruly bird) that had only flown 
on 1 prior day was also allowed to fly on this day. 
d Four cranes in the older group flew every flown segment and a fIfth survivor flew all but 4 segments. 
, Four cranes in younger group flew every flown segment and a fIfth survivor flew only 3 segments. 
urge that, in the future, routes be chosen to minimize the 
potential for eagle attacks. 
Our greatest difficulty in 1995 was the unseasonably 
warm temperatures encountered as we traversed the Sonoran 
Desert. This was much less of a problem in 1996 because we 
departed later. We recognize that the problem can be avoided 
entirely by having motorized migrations simulate what the 
cranes do naturally. Namely, they move from summering 
areas to pool up at staging areas until environmental cues 
push them further south. 
Because of overheating and eagle attacks, our 1995 
migration required 13 calendar days. In 1996, we were able 
to shorten this to 8 days for the older group and 6 days for the 
younger group. Other year comparisons are in Table 2. Both 
years, but especially 1996, prove that it is possible to effi-
ciently lead cranes long distances in unforested areas. We 
had 100% success keeping the cranes alive (10 in 1995 and 
14 in 1996) during training and had only 2 or 3 of 24 birds 
prove uncooperative by the time of migration. 
By the end of our migrations, all of our cranes both years 
had enough experience with uncostumed (or partially cos-
tumed) humans that they were acclimated to humans and 
were prone to become nuisance birds (Ellis 2001, Mummert 
et al. 2001). With further changes in rearing, training, and 
migration, we are confident that such birds can be made to 
avoid humans (see Urbanek and Bookhout 1992, Clegg et al. 
1997, Duff et al. 2001, Ellis et al. 2001 a). We overcame this 
tameness in 1996 by releasing our birds 1 or 2 at a time into 
a wild flock (Ellis et al. 200 Ib) near Gila Bend, Arizona. Just 
as for the 1995 ultralight experiment (Clegg et al. 1997), once 
the experimental cranes integrated into the wild flock, they no 
longer approached humans. 
In the final analysis, this technique must be evaluated on 
the basis of the cranes' ability to migrate t() and from our 
chosen summering and wintering areas. This propensity is 
treated in detail elsewhere (Ellis 2001, Ellis et al. 2001a; 
Mummert et al. 2001), but briefly, we now have good evi-
dence that many of the trucking and ultralight-led cranes did 
learn appropriate cues to lead them to and from our chosen 
termini. However, they seem to follow their own (not our) 
126 1996 mUCKING MIGRATION· Ellis et al. 
routes. 
Motorized ground vehicles proved to be a practical means 
for leading cranes long distances. We recommend use of the 
technique for migrations where there is good expectation of 
long bouts of foul weather, frequent windy weather, or other 
serious flying hazards. Leading cranes by ground vehicles 
may also be the most efficient method for crossing unforested 
habitat where fuel and landing strips for aircraft are scarce or 
marginal. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
We greatly appreciate Colonel L. Triphahn for allowing 
our use of a remote comer of the Navajo Army Depot near 
Belmont, Arizona, to train our birds. Sergeant D. Hack 
coordinated our activities on the depot. W. Shifflett and his 
staff at the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge hosted our 
wintering cranes and assisted with bird care. The Arizona 
Game and Fish Department (AGFD) greatly assisted us by 
passing along locations of wayward birds and often helped 
transport birds. J. G. Goodwin, Jr. and P. Smith, both of 
AGFD, coordinated many of these efforts. C. Van Cleave 
helped care for wayward cranes during and after our odyssey. 
We thank NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center for support in 
monitoring our birds by satellite. Most fundamental of all, we 
thank G. F. Gee, T. Fontaine, K. 0' Malley, J. Nicolich, and 
all of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center rearing staff for 
supporting the project. Thanks to Heather Ray of Operation 
Migraton for preparing our map. 
The senior author extends his great appreciation to Brian 
Clauss who led the training teams both years and, at great 
personal sacrifice, insisted on always assuming the dusty and 
dangerous role of riding in the open back of the cranemobile, 
calling to the cranes during migration. 
Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 8:2001 
LITERATURE CITED 
Clegg, K. 1., J. C. Lewis, and D. H. Ellis. 1997. Use of ultralight 
aircraft for introducing migratory crane popUlations. Proceed-
ings North American Crane Workshop 7:105-113. 
Duff, J. w., W. A. Lishman, D. A. Clark, G. F. Gee, D. T. Sprague, 
and D. H. Ellis. 2001. Promoting wildness in sandhill cranes 
conditioned to follow an ultralight aircraft. Proceedings North 
American Crane Workshop 8:115-121. 
Ellis, D. H. 2001. Wings across the desert. Hancock House, 
Blaine, Washington, USA. 
----' B. Clauss, T. Watanabe, R. C. Mykut, M. Kinloch, and C. H. 
Ellis. 1997. Results of an experiment to lead cranes on 
migration behind motorized ground vehicles. Proceedings 
North American Crane Workshop 7:114-122. 
__ , K. R. Clegg, J. C. Lewis, and E. SpaUlding. 1999. Golden 
eagle predation on experimental sandhill and whooping cranes. 
Condor 101:664-666. 
----' G. F. Gee, K. R. Clegg, J. W. Duff, W. A. Lishman, and W. 
J. L. Sladen. 2001a. Lessons from the motorized migrations. 
Proceedings North American Crane Workshop 8: 13 9-144. 
__ , D. P. Mununert, R. P. Urbanek, M. Kinloch, C. Mellon, T. 
Dolbeare, and D. P. Ossi. 200lb. The one-by-one method for 
releasing cranes. Proceedings North American Crane Work-
shop 8:225. 
----' G. H. Olsen, G. F. Gee, J. M. Nicolich, K. E. 0' Malley, M. 
Nagendran, S. G. Hereford, P. Range, W. T. Harper, R. P. 
Ingram, and D. G. Smith. 1992. Techniques for rearing and 
releasing nonmigratory cranes: lessons from the Mississippi 
sandhill crane program. Proceedings North American Crane 
Workshop 6:135-14l. 
Mummert, D. P., D. H. Ellis, and C. L. Chambers. 200l. Fate of 
the survivors of the 1995 and 1996 Arizona trucking migrations 
of costume-reared greater sandhill cranes. Proceedings North 
American Crane Workshop 8:127-13l. 
Urbanek, R. P., and T. A. Bookhout. 1992. Development of an 
isolation-rearing/gentle release procedure for reintroducing 
migratory cranes. Proceedings North American Crane Work-
shop 6:120-130. 


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RESULTS OF THE SECOND (1996) EXPERIMENT TO LEAD CRANES ON MIGRATION BEHIND A MOTORIZED GROUND VEHICLE

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