Winter Diets of Sandhill Cranes from Central and Coastal Texas

We determined diet composition of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis; n = 136) wintering in 4 regions of Texas during November–January 1996–1997 based exclusively on examination of esophageal and proventricular contents. Wintering Sandhill Cranes were predominately herbivorous, with animal matter representing less than 5% of their diet. Agricultural grains comprised most of the diet of wintering Sandhill Cranes from all regions of Texas except the South Texas Plains where nut-grass (Cyperus spp.) tubers made up a larger proportion of their diet. Cranes used agricultural and native plant matter and animal matter in different proportions among regions. There were no sex or subspecific related differences in frequency of occurrence or proportional dry mass of foods consumed by wintering Sandhill Cranes. Agricultural foods represented a larger proportion of the diets of Sandhill Cranes in this study than in previous studies conducted along the Gulf Coast, probably because of improved sampling methodology and differences in habitat conditions.