Dataset for Antigone canadensis (sandhill crane) foraging patterns influenced by crop, roost distance, and tillage intensity during spring and autumn migration at a primary stopover area

We used data from 2.5 years of A. canadensis observations in the San Luis Valley to examine their foraging patterns during spring and autumn migration. We counted cranes weekly or bi-weekly each season and year during roadside surveys. We determined crop type (alfalfa, barley, pasture, potatoes, other grain, and other) during roadside surveys. We also recorded tillage intensity for grain fields, where A. canadensis were observed. Tillage intensity refers to the degree of tilling that occurs postharvest to prepare fields for the following season’s crop, with some growers discing or plowing several times and others doing minimum or no tilling. We also estimated tillage intensity for barley fields not used by A. canadensis. However, because we did not observe A. canadensis on these fields, we did not have ocular estimates of tillage intensity and instead used satellite imagery. We determined distance to the nearest potential roost using information from A. c. tabida fitted with global system for mobile communication (GSM) platform transmitter terminal tags (Evolution Series-400, 15-g; Cellular Tracking Technologies, Rio Grande, NJ, USA) or global positioning system (GPS) platform transmitter terminal tags (PTT-100, 22-g Solar Argos/GPS PTT, Microwave Telemetry, Columbia, MD, USA).