Status and Harvests of Sandhill Cranes, 2018

The annual indices to abundance of the Mid-Continent Population (MCP) of sandhill cranes had been relatively stable from 1982 to the mid-2000s. Some of the annual indices have increased in recent years, and are more variable interannually compared to historic values. The spring 2018 estimate of abundance for sandhill cranes in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV), Nebraska, corrected for visibility bias, was 1,005,612 birds. This estimate is 77% above that of the previous year and a record-high estimate. The photo-corrected, 3-year average for 2016-18 was 659,899, which is above the established population-objective range of 350,000-475,000 cranes. All Central Flyway States, except Nebraska, allowed crane hunting in portions of their States during 2017-18. An estimated 10,639 Central Flyway hunters participated in these seasons, which was 12% higher than the number that participated in the previous season. Hunters harvested 26,458 MCP cranes in the U.S. portion of the Central Flyway during the 2017-18 seasons, which was a record high and 74% higher than the long-term average. The estimated retrieved harvest of MCP cranes in hunt areas outside of the Central Flyway (Arizona, Pacific Flyway portion of New Mexico, Minnesota, Alaska, Canada, and Mexico combined) was 19,437 birds during 2017-18. The preliminary estimate for the North American MCP sport harvest, including crippling losses, was 51,429 birds, which was a 15% increase from the previous year’s estimate and a record for the second consecutive year. The long-term (1982-2017) trends for the MCP indicate that harvest has been increasing at a higher rate than population growth. The fall 2017 pre-migration survey for the Rocky Mountain Population (RMP) resulted in a count of 19,592 cranes, 12% lower than the count from 2016. The 3-year average was 22,062 sandhill cranes, which is slightly above the established population objective of 17,000-21,000 for the RMP. Hunting seasons during 2017-18 in portions of Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming resulted in a harvest of 1,196 RMP cranes, a 4% increase from the previous year’s harvest. The Lower Colorado River Valley Population (LCRVP) survey results indicate a 12% decrease from 2,716 birds in 2017 to 2,396 birds in 2018. The 3-year average is 2,509 LCRVP cranes, which is essentially at the population objective of 2,500 birds. The Eastern Population (EP) sandhill crane fall survey index for 2017 (70,636) was a 26% decrease from the previous year, but still well above the objective of 30,000 cranes for this population. A total of 949 cranes were harvested in Kentucky and Tennessee during the 2017-18 seasons.