Seasonal movements of sandhill cranes radiomarked in Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming

We radiomarked 9 (1 ad, 8 juv) greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tab ida) in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and Jackson Hole (JH), Wyoming, dur ing summers 1984-86 to assess seasonal movements and survival and to identi fy important use areas. We relocated marked cranes on 872 occasions through June 1989. Mean transmitter life was 32 months (13.0-45.5), and 8 cranes w ere alive when transmitters failed. Mean annual survival rate was 0.97 (SE = 0.16). All movements were within the known geographic range of the Rocky Mountain Population (RMP) of greater sandhill cranes. In September, cranes departed summer areas and moved up to 140 km ((x) over bar = 85) to a fall premigration staging area in Teton Basin in eastern Idaho. All cranes used the RMP autumn and spring staging area in the San Luis Valley (SLV) in sout hcentral Colorado, and 8 wintered in the Middle Rio Grande Valley (MRGV), N ew Mexico, less than or equal to 1,450 km from YNP. The winter location of 1 crane was undetermined. Juveniles separated From parents during spring mi gration when +/-10 months old and summered 4-62 km from natal areas. During their third summer, 3 subadults occupied the same summer sites used as yea rlings, and 3 occupied new sites 3-47 km from natal sites. All 9 cranes exh ibited area fidelity and used the same general locations in the SLV and win ter areas during successive years; juveniles apparently learned traditional use areas from parents. Repeated annual use of the same seasonal locations reflected habitat stability and probably enhanced survival. The welfare of YNP, JH, and other RMP cranes' depends on long-term habitat protection at key federal and state management areas and private lands throughout their g eographic range.