Habitats of sandhill cranes in the southern Hudson Bay lowland, Ontario ( Grus canadensis).

Abstract

The vegetation at Grus canadensis breeding sites consisted of mixtures of open graminoid, open low shrub and treed low shrub physiognomic groups, in proportions characteristic of the region. In comparison with the habitat occupied by non-breeding cranes, breeding birds appeared to prefer sites with less open graminoid elements, presumably in order to optimize accessible cover for flightless young. -from Author Botany Dept., Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6, Canada.