Resource Use and Behavior of Migrating Snow Geese

Frederick, Robert; Klaas, Erwin E.

doi:10.2307/3808550

Cited by 46 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…They should thus adopt optimal strategies that maintain energy balance and reduce probability of mortality. Mobile animals like birds have the option of moving to a more favorable environment when foraging costs become greater than gains (Frederick and Klaas 1982). During the postbreeding period, migratory birds must complete their growth and/or accumulate reserves for their fall migration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Québec

Beaumont¹,

Rodrigue²,

Giroux³

2013

ACE

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ABSTRACT. Individual behavior that reduces vulnerability to predation can affect population dynamics of animals. Temperatenesting Canada Geese (Branta canadensis maxima) have increased steadily throughout the Atlantic flyway and have become a nuisance in some parts of their range. The objective of our study was to describe movements and habitat use during the postbreeding period of Canada Geese recently established in southern Québec. More specifically, we wanted to determine whether geese were using areas where hunting was allowed to assess the potential of harvest to control the number of geese. We tracked a sample of geese fitted with radio or conventional alphanumeric collars throughout the fall in three zones characterized by different habitats and hunting pressure. Before the hunting season, geese left the breeding area where hunting was allowed to reach suburban areas where firearm discharge was prohibited or hunters' numbers were low. These postbreeding movements occurred when juveniles were approximately three months old. We observed few local movements among zones once migrant geese from northern breeding populations reached the study area. Radio-collared geese used mainly natural habitats (75.4 ± 2.6%), followed by urban (14.4 ± 2.7%), and agricultural habitats (10.3 ± 0.8%). They were located 73.8 ± 6.2% of the time in areas where hunting was prohibited. Geese that attended their juveniles during brood rearing were more prone to use areas where firearm discharge was restricted than geese that had abandoned or lost their brood. This study shows that under the prevailing regulations, the potential of hunting to manage the increasing breeding population of Canada Geese in southern Québec is limited.RÉSUMÉ. Le comportement que les individus adoptent pour réduire leur vulnérabilité face à la prédation peut affecter la dynamique des populations. La population résidente de Bernaches du Canada (Branta canadensis maxima) a considérablement augmenté dans le corridor de migration de l'Atlantique, à un point tel qu'elles sont devenues nuisibles à certains endroits. L'objectif de notre étude était de décrire les déplacements et l'utilisation des milieux durant la période post-reproductive des Bernaches du Canada récemment établies dans le sud du Québec. Afin d'évaluer le potentiel de la chasse pour contrôler le nombre de bernaches, nous voulions déterminer si les bernaches utilisaient les zones dans lesquelles la chasse est permise. Au cours de l'automne, nous avons suivi des bernaches munies d'un collier avec émetteur ou d'un collier conventionnel alphanumérique dans trois zones caractérisées par différents habitats et pressions de chasse. Bien avant l'ouverture de la chasse, les bernaches ont délaissé le secteur où elles avaient niché et qui était accessible aux chasseurs pour se déplacer vers des sites périurbains où les chasseurs étaient peu nombreux ou encore absents en raison de l'interdiction de décharger des armes à feu. Ces déplacements post-reproductifs se sont effectués lorsque les jeunes étaient âgés ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Québec

Beaumont¹,

Rodrigue²,

Giroux³

2013

ACE

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“…Intertidal habitats likely provided a relatively consistent environment, in which emperor geese could satisfy forage requirements within short distances. In contrast, harvest and plowing of agricultural fields, freezing conditions, and snowfall may require geese that use agricultural and freshwater habitats to move greater distances and to shift wintering areas when conditions dictate (Frederick and Klaas, 1982;Hestbeck et al, 1991). Furthermore, hunting may contribute to movement of geese (Madsen, 1998;Béchet et al, 2003); however, for emperor geese there is no legal harvest, and often only a sparse human population on wintering areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Annual Migration Cycle of Emperor Geese in Western Alaska

Hupp¹,

Schmutz²,

Ely³

2009

ARCTIC

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ABSTRACT. Most emperor geese (Chen canagica) nest in a narrow coastal region of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) in western Alaska, but their winter distribution extends more than 3000 km from Kodiak Island, Alaska, to the Commander Islands, Russia. We marked 53 adult female emperor geese with satellite transmitters on the YKD in 1999YKD in , 2002YKD in , and 2003 to examine whether chronology of migration or use of seasonal habitats differed among birds that wintered in different regions. Females that migrated relatively short distances (650-1010 km) between the YKD and winter sites on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula bypassed autumn staging areas on the Bering Sea coast of the Alaska Peninsula or used them for shorter periods (mean = 57 days) than birds that made longer migrations (1600-2640 km) to the western Aleutian Islands (mean = 97 days). Alaska Peninsula migrants spent more days at winter sites (mean = 172 days, 95% CI: 129-214 days) than western Aleutian Island migrants (mean = 91 days, 95% CI: 83-99 days). Birds that migrated 930-1610 km to the eastern Aleutian Islands spent intermediate intervals at fall staging (mean = 77 days) and wintering areas (mean = 108 days, 95% CI: 95-119 days). Return dates to the YKD did not differ among birds that wintered in different regions. Coastal staging areas on the Alaska Peninsula may be especially important in autumn to prepare Aleutian migrants physiologically for long-distance migration to winter sites, and in spring to enable emperor geese that migrate different distances to reach comparable levels of condition before nesting.Key words: Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands, Chen canagica, emperor geese, migration, satellite telemetry, YukonKuskokwim Delta RÉSUMÉ. La plupart des oies empereurs (Chen canagica) nichent dans une étroite région côtière du delta Yukon-Kuskokwim (DYK), dans l'ouest de l'Alaska. Cependant, l'hiver, leur répartition hivernale s'étend sur plus de 3000 km, depuis l'île de Kodiak, en Alaska, jusqu'aux îles Commander, en Russie. Nous avons apposé à 53 oies empereurs femelles adultes du DYK des transmetteurs satellites en 1999, 2002 et 2003 dans le but d'examiner si la chronologie de la migration ou l'utilisation des habitats saisonniers différaient chez les oiseaux qui hivernaient dans des régions différentes. Les femelles dont la migration se faisait sur des distances assez courtes (de 650 à 1010 km) entre le DYK et les lieux d'hivernage du côté sud de la péninsule de l'Alaska contournaient les haltes migratoires de la côte de la mer de Béring de la péninsule de l'Alaska ou s'en servaient pendant de plus courtes périodes (moyenne = 57 jours) que les oiseaux dont les migrations étaient plus longues (de 1600 à 2 640 km) vers les îles Aléoutiennes de l'Ouest (moyenne = 97 jours). Les migrants de la péninsule de l'Alaska passaient plus de jours aux lieux d'hivernage (moyenne = 172 jours, 95 % IC : 129-214 jours) que les migrants des îles Aléoutiennes de l'Ouest (moyenne = 91 jours, 95 % IC : 83-99 jours). Les oiseaux dont la migration s...

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“…During harvesting, many corn cobs drop to the ground, and some plant material is also left, providing a good source of energy for geese. Moreover, geese may forage on weeds growing among maize stems (Reed et al 1977;Frederick and Klaas 1982). However, the preferences of geese for winter cereals differ between studies; for example, Nilsson and Persson (2000) considered this crop type to be an important food type for geese, whereas Jepsen (1991) found the opposite.…”

Section: Crop Preferences Of Geesementioning

confidence: 95%

“…Stubbles are favourite foraging sites even when their share in a landscape is low (Madsen 1985a;Jepsen 1991;Gill 1996). For example, geese have been found to prefer stubbles of beet (Gill 1996;Gill et al 1997;Nilsson and Persson 2000), maize (Frederick and Klaas 1982) and rape (Nilsson and Persson 2000). The preference for these crop types may be easily explained by the high energy value of these food types, which are needed to build up the reserves during the autumn migration (Raveling 1979).…”

Section: Crop Preferences Of Geesementioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape structure, human disturbance and crop management affect foraging ground selection by migrating geese

Rosin

Skórka

Wylegała³

et al. 2011

J Ornithol

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It is well known that agricultural intensification has caused severe population declines among bird species which use farmland for breeding and overwintering, while migrating bird species may benefit from intensive farming, but in turn damage crops. Knowledge of the habitat selection of migrating birds is important from both a conservation and agro-economic point of view. We investigated the habitat preferences of three common migrating goose species: White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons, Bean Goose A. fabalis and Greylag Goose A. anser during the autumn of 2009 in western Poland. A total of 24 flocks of these species were identified. Geese preferred large, elevated fields that were remote from forests and human settlements but in close proximity to a lake. Geese selected maize stubbles and avoided winter cereals. They selected sites in landscapes with a lower diversity of crops. Flock size was negatively correlated with the proportion of pastures in the landscape, but it increased with field size, distance to forest and distance to town. Our results are in contrast with the paradigm that less intensive farmland positively influences habitat use by birds during foraging. We advise the delayed ploughing of stubbles with the aim of creating appropriate foraging habitats for geese and minimizing damage to cereal crops.

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Resource Use and Behavior of Migrating Snow Geese

Cited by 46 publications

References 8 publications

Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Québec

Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Québec

The Annual Migration Cycle of Emperor Geese in Western Alaska

Landscape structure, human disturbance and crop management affect foraging ground selection by migrating geese

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Resource Use and Behavior of Migrating Snow Geese

Cited by 46 publications

References 8 publications

Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Qu&#233;bec

Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Qu&#233;bec

The Annual Migration Cycle of Emperor Geese in Western Alaska

Landscape structure, human disturbance and crop management affect foraging ground selection by migrating geese

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Québec

Movements and Habitat Use by Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese During the Postbreeding Period in Southern Québec