Movement ecology of Sandhill Cranes in Alberta.
My research focuses on the movement ecology of Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis)
throughout Alberta. Specifically nesting Sandhill Cranes. In 2020, the Government of Alberta
instituted a Sandhill Crane harvest. To date, there has not been a study conducted on nesting
Sandhill Crane ecology in Alberta. Specific concerns have been raised as to whether Alberta’s
nesting population is large enough to support a fall harvest. By deploying 15 GPS transmitters,
and by using autonomous recording units (ARUs) in the summer of 2023, we plan to build a
population distribution map, determine habitat selection via a step-selection function (SSF)
during the summer nesting season, and learn if small nesting populations are at risk of over-
harvest.
2025 Update:
Watt Villetard (funded by ACA and SCINAC) successfully defended his master’s thesis in April of 2025 after working with Dr. Mark Boyce since 2022. Wyatt’s project focused on Alberta’s local Sandhill Crane population (Antigone canadensis) and their nesting habitat selection and migratory behaviour. Using the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institutes “Ecosystem Health Grid” Wyatt was able systematically sample a large portion of northern Alberta and was successfully able to predict high quality nesting season habitat through the use of a resource selection function or RSF. Wyatt intends to publish his thesis in collaboration with Dr. Mark Boyce and Dr. Erin Bayne in the Avian Conservation and Ecology.