Personnel from Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge and the state Department of Natural Resources are looking to collect tissue samples from cranes killed by hunters during this fall's inaugural sandhill crane season in northwestern Minnesota as part of an effort to learn more about where the birds originated.
Specifically, DNR and Agassiz staffers are seeking single wing feathers and toenails. Through a process called "stable isotope analysis," researchers can determine where the cranes originated by examining the feathers and toenail tissues.
Data collected from the research effort will aid in determining what portion of the Minnesota sandhill crane harvest involved birds hatched or bred within the state as opposed to more northern locations throughout Canada. Birds from the midcontinent population of sandhill cranes that breed in and migrate through northwestern Minnesota have a potential distribution that spans a wide area, including portions of Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario.
Staffers hope to collect samples from throughout the 37-day sandhill crane season to account for changes in geographical origin that likely will occur as the crane migration progresses throughout September and into early October.
Several Minnesota DNR personnel within the boundaries of the sandhill crane hunting zone are equipped to collect samples. Successful crane hunters also can contact Agassiz refuge biologist Gregg Knutsen at (218) 449-4115, ext. 204 or (218) 686-4329 for more information or to provide samples.
