Wetland nesting sites of wattled and grey crowned cranes on the Steenkampsberg Plateau, South Africa

Thirty nine wetlands of the Steenkampsberg Plateau, Mpumalanga Province, So uth Africa, were examined to determine their use by nesting wattled cranes Bugeranus carunculatus and grey crowned cranes Balearica regulorum. Only fi ve of these wetlands were used for nesting by each species. The position, p ristineness, vegetation height, adjacent farm management practices and land -use impacts of each wetland were considered. Wattled cranes were no longer nesting in wetlands at the lower altitudes that had previously been found in the study area. Grey crowned cranes nested in larger wetlands than wattl ed cranes. Most wattled crane nests were in unchannelled plains wetlands wi th short vegetation which covered 51 to 75% of the wetland surface. Grey cr owned cranes predominantly nested in channelled plains wetlands with very t all vegetation which covered 76 to 100% of the wetland. Wattled cranes also nested in wetlands which were more pristine than those chosen by grey crow ned cranes, Bath these cranes avoided wetlands with adjacent land-uses whic h had large impacts on the wetland. but the wattled crane was more sensitiv e to these impacts than the grey crowned crane.