Assessment and mitigation of agricultural conflicts involving sandhill cranes.

The Canadian Wildlife Service (part of Environment and Climate Change Canada) and the University of Waterloo will be conducting year 2 of its study on Sandhill Cranes and how their movements relate to agricultural land uses. Information from this study is vital to understanding the nature of conflicts between Sandhill Cranes and agricultural producers and how those conflicts can be mitigated.
This year, crews will be working between Sturgeon Falls and Sault Ste Marie, along the Highway 17 corridor. Rough schedule is as follows:

  • Azilda area – Sept 9-16
  • St Joseph’s Island, Echo Bay, Bruce Mines – Sept 17-24
  • Manitouin Island – Sept 25-Oct 2
  • West Nipissing – Oct 3-8

As part of this work, crews will be looking to access agricultural fields where cranes are actively feeding or loafing throughout the day. Crews will be capturing cranes using a rocket-propelled net, attaching transmitters to the birds, then releasing them.
Those producers interested in providing access to fields can contact Julie Poirier-Mensinga  (OMAFRA) julie.poiriermensinga@ontario.ca  Please provide your name, physical address of your home farm, and an approximate number of cranes using your fields.

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