Numbers of wild Canada geese (Branta canadensis) have increased dramatically during the past 30 years in the lower Columbia and Willamette Valley systems. The damage they cause by grazing and trampling plants can be substantial. The objectives of this research were to: 1) Develop methods that provide reliable estimates of goose impact on wheat yield and quality, and 2) Develop methods to separate goose damage from other factors that lower yield such as poor soil or waterlogging. To document grazing impacts, color aerial photography was combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) and precision farming technology. Field-scale color aerial photographs (1:14,000 scale) were acquired four times during each growing season: in January, March, April, and just prior to harvest in July. Each flight was coupled with ground truth data collection to verify exact cause of spectral signature variation or variations in wheat cover. Such data included wheat height, number of goose droppings, and a relative rating of goose grazing intensity. At each sampling point a platform photograph and a GPS location were taken. Wheat yield impact varied considerably as field size, shape and proximity to road varied. Yield maps revealed that, goose grazing had reduced grain yield by 25% or more in heavily grazed areas. At harvest time during the first year, wheat grain in the heavily grazed areas had higher moisture content due to delayed maturity. Therefore those areas were harvested two weeks later. Heavily grazed areas also had more weeds than ungrazed portions of the field. Late-season (April) grazing was more damaging to wheat yield than was earlier season grazing, but early season grazing did have an impact on yield. Intensely hazed fields had lower levels of damage than did fields or portions of fields that were not as vigorously guarded. Our results illustrate very practical ways to combine image analysis capability, spectral observations, global positioning systems, precision farming and ground truth data collection to map and quantify field condition or crop damage from depredation, standing water, or other adversities. Image analysis of geopositioned color platform photographs can be used to stratify winter wheat fields into impact units according to grazing intensity. Ground-truth data, when collected in conjunction with a GPS, provided the information needed to locate and establish the spectral properties of impacted areas. Once the spectral properties of a representative area were identified, information could be extrapolated to other areas with the same characteristics. In addition, this method could be used in conjunction with aerial photography to verify areas of grazing. The combination of two or more of these tools would provide farm managers and agricultural consultants with a cost-effective method to identify problem areas associated with vegetation stress due to heavy grazing by geese or other factors. / Graduation date: 1999

The nutritional and sociocultural significance of Canada Goose was documented through field research in Wemindji, Quebec and laboratory analyses (proximate composition, trace elements, fatty acids and heavy metals) at McGill University. Consumption of different parts varies by age/gender groups. Cooked flesh samples contained 25.04--36.46 g/100g protein, 6 19--26.35 g/100g fat, 5.58--11.68 mg/100g iron, 2.77--4.81 mg/100g zinc, 4.91--27.59 mg/100g calcium and 0.22--0.75 mg/100g copper. Lung and liver samples contained high amounts of iron (44.24 and 49.18 mg/100g, respectively). Canada goose provides lower amounts of saturated fatty acids and higher amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids as compared to lard. Heavy metal content of Canada goose was found to be very low, with exception of several samples containing high lead levels. Canada goose is a highly valued food, providing important amounts of energy, protein, iron, zinc and copper. This resource also has significance in spiritual, cultural and social life of the Cree.

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Present data are insufficient to permit final recommendations as to the best winter-green crop for geese of the sight crops studied. Italian rye grass appears, however, to have very good possibilities because of its good production of forage, its utilization and apparent high preference by geese coupled with a low preference by deer. It is also a relatively inexpensive field crop. Ladino clover is good as a second year crop for both geese and deer besides being economical to plant and maintain, but should be planted early to permit satisfactory first year utilization. Oats, on the refuges on which this investigation was conducted, appears a poor choice because of its high preference by deer and low goose preference. There is a need for additional investigation to permit the accumulation of more conclusive data. Presently reported results reflect limitations which might be overcome with additional investigation. / Master of Science

Body size explains much of the interspecific variation in the physiology, behavior, and morphology of birds, such as metabolic rate, diet selection, intake rate, gut size, and bill size. Based on mass-specific metabolic requirements and relative energetic costs of activities, being a certain body size has both advantages and disadvantages. In particular, avian herbivores such as geese possess a relatively simple digestive system, consume foods with low digestibility and poor nutrient content, and have increased energetic demands compared to other bird taxa; therefore, any effects of body size on foraging strategies should be readily apparent in this foraging guild. The influence of body size on the behavior and management of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Cackling Geese (B. hutchinsii) as avian herbivores has not been well studied. My dissertation explores the role of body size in comparative foraging behavior, habitat selection, and winter conservation planning for two congeneric geese, the Dusky Canada Goose (B. c. occidentalis; hereafter Duskys) and the Cackling Goose (B. h. minima; hereafter Cacklers). These two taxa share the same over-winter foraging environment (grass seed fields) in the same restricted geographic area (the Willamette Valley) during winter. Duskys and Cacklers differ by more than a factor of two in body size and have different relative bill sizes and social organization. Because of smaller body size, Cacklers have greater relative energy demands and less fasting endurance compared to Duskys; however, Cacklers have comparatively low energetic costs for flight and transport. Duskys, however, have higher total energy requirements than Cacklers. Additionally, Cacklers form large, high-density flocks and have a total over-wintering population size in the study area of about 200,000. Duskys occur in relatively small family groups and have a total over-wintering population size of about 13,000. My study demonstrated that interspecific differences in body size between Cacklers and Duskys was associated with differences in foraging behavior, movements, and habitat selection. Cacklers foraged a greater percentage of time (30%) in all habitats and across the entire winter compared to Duskys. Cacklers had higher peck rates (up to 100 pecks min⁻¹ greater) than Duskys in all foraging habitats expect pasture. The pecking rate of Cacklers was greatest in fields of young grass (200 pecks min⁻¹), which may indicate that Cacklers had relatively high intake rates in this foraging habitat. Based on differences in foraging behavior among habitats, Cacklers may have the foraging strategy of energy intake maximizers, whereas the foraging strategy of Duskys is more towards time-energy expenditure minimizers, at least for part of the winter. Cacklers moved across the landscape very differently from Duskys, exhibiting less site fidelity and greater commuting distances to foraging areas. Cacklers showed a preference for young grass during all periods of the winter, reaffirming that Cacklers are specialized grazers on short green forage, whereas Duskys preferred young grass and pasture. Fields of young grass were the preferred foraging habitat of Cacklers, had less standing crop biomass, and may have enabled higher foraging efficiencies, which may have led to higher intake rates. The ability of the landscape to support wintering geese changed across the winter because total available plant biomass fluctuated with the rate of grass regrowth. The estimated carrying capacity of the landscape for geese decline by almost one-half during mid-winter (mid-December to mid-February) compared to early winter or late winter periods. Although Cacklers have lower individual energy requirements compared to Duskys, due to a much larger target population size, Cacklers required 89% more foraging habitat than Duskys. Forage requirements encountered a bottleneck during mid-winter, when grass regrowth rates were low and day length was short. Commensurate with this pattern of forage availability, goose body condition declined during the mid-winter period. To support Pacific Flyway target populations for geese, approximately 18,000 ha of total grazing habitat in young and mature grass is needed in the Willamette Valley to support a total over-wintering population composed of 340,000 geese belonging to four subspecies. The role of body size in influencing the foraging behavior and decisions of over-wintering geese has important implications for conservation planning of goose populations. Small-bodied Cacklers are selective in field choice, yet more likely to redistribute across the landscape. Disturbances (e.g., hunting, hazing, or predation) will have a disproportionate effect on the movements of smaller-bodied geese compared to larger geese. These characteristics of Cacklers will make conservation planning to retain geese on public land more difficult. Coordinated management with private landowners and farming practices that maximize preferred goose foraging habitat on public lands may attract geese to utilize protected areas and minimize conflicts with agriculture in the Willamette Valley. Availability of resources during critical periods in winter is an important factor affecting the distribution of geese, but may affect small and large bodied geese differently. Management could be targeted during these critical time periods. By considering the role of body size in the context of life history characteristics, foraging behavior and habitat selection, appropriate management strategies can be developed and implemented to reduce the effects of agricultural depredation by geese, while promoting the future conservation of wintering geese in the Willamette Valley. / Graduation date: 2013

Several factors have contributed to impeding the progress of migratory waterfowl spatial modeling, such as (1) waterfowl’s reliance on wetlands, (2) lack of understanding about shifts in distributions through time, and (3) large-scale seasonal migration. This doctoral dissertation provides an array of tools to address each of these concerns in order to better understand and conserve this group of species. The second chapter of this dissertation addresses issues of modeling species dependent on wetlands, a dynamic and often ephemeral habitat type. Correlation models of the relationships between climatic variables and species occurrence will not capture the full habitat constraints of waterfowl. This study introduces a novel data source that explicitly models the depth to water table, which is a simulated long-term measure of the point where climate and geological/topographic water fluxes balance. The inclusion of the depth to water table data contributes significantly to the ability to predict species probability of occurrence. Furthermore, this data source provides advantages over traditional proxies for wetland habitat, because it is not a static measure of wetland location, and is not biased by sampling method. Utilizing the long-term banding bird data again, the third chapter examines the behavior of waterfowl niche selection through time. By using the methods developed in chapter two, probability of occurrence models for the 1950s and the 1990s were developed. It was then possible to detect movements in geographic and environmental space, and how movements in these two spaces are related. This type of analysis provides insight into how different bird species might respond to environment changes and potentially improve climate change forecasts. The final chapter presents a new method for predicting the migratory movement of waterfowl. The method incorporates not only the environmental constraints of stopover habitat, but also includes likely distance and bearing traveled from a source point. This approach uses the USGS’ banding bird database; more specifically, it relies on banding locations, which have multiple recoveries within short time periods. Models made from these banding locations create a framework of migration movement, and allow for predictions to be made from locations where no banding/recovery data are available. / text

The aim of the thesis was to document patterns in breeding and migration in Swedish Canada geese Branta canadensis, to explain these against the genetic and historical background of the population, and to test predictions of hypotheses pertaining to parental investment. The Canada goose population in Sweden was founded by the introduction of a few individuals in the 1930's. DNA fingerprint similarity between geese breeding in Sweden was on average at the same level as between inbred close relatives in other wild bird species. The genetic variability of the population appeared to be considerably reduced in comparison to that of Canada geese breeding in North America. Dispersal and migration patterns were studied using plastic neck-bands that could be identified at long distance. Most Canada goose females nested at the lake where they grew up. Males were more prone to disperse than females, although most of them still returned to breed close to their area of origin. Geese from three breeding areas in Sweden had different winter distributions, although wintering areas overlapped considerably. Individual geese tended to return to the same wintering area as they had used in previous years. The females' investment in the egg clutch was related to the migration distance from spring foraging areas to the nesting area, suggesting an energetic cost of migration for egg production. Within breeding seasons, clutch size decreased with later initiation of nesting, but only in years with early breeding. A probable reason for this decrease was that body reserves available for egg production were larger in early layers. In years with late breeding, clutch size did not decrease, most likely because late-nesting females could supplement their body reserves by foraging on fresh vegetation. Nest defence intensity was studied by recording the behaviour of the female geese when a human approached the nest. The results largely confirmed predictions for nest defence intensity extracted from parental investment theory. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1993, härtill 6 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

Military jet over-flight activities pose a potential threat to staging waterfowl and pilots. The migration period is important for nutrient acquisition and courtship as these waterfowl enter the breeding season. Using a focal animal (continuous) technique for five-minute intervals, diurnal Time/Activity (TA) budgets for Canada Geese (Branta canadensis canadensis) (n=751), American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) (n=474) and Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) (n=1274) were compiled during 216 hours of behavioural observation. The study was conducted from 26 April to 27 May, 2002 at the outlet of Lac Fourmont, Labrador (52° 03' 30"N, 60° 31' 01" W), in an ashkui or area of open water in an otherwise frozen landscape, which is known historically as a place to hunt waterfowl. These staging grounds are within the 130 000 km2 Low-level Training Area (LLTA) of the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula. Generalized Linear Modeling (GLM) of ranked variables was used to analyze behaviour by: observer, sex, pair status, time of day, date, and each weather parameter. Male Common Goldeneye spent more time in courtship behaviours (2.7%) than females (1.1%) and they spent most of the daylight hours feeding (males 53.3% and females 54.5%), with little time resting (4.8% and 5.2%, respectively). In contrast, Black Ducks and Canada Geese spent relatively little time feeding (12.4% and 5% respectively) and most of their time sleeping (35% and 38% respectively) and locomotion (37.8% and 11% respectively). Ashkui are important to Common Goldeneyes for foraging, and to Canada Geese and Black Ducks for resting prior to the breeding season. / Ninety-one low-level jet over-flights occurred and sound levels (n=336 h) at the study site were measured. Effects of low-level jet over-flights were analyzed using GLM of ranked variables in order to analyze a number of variables simultaneously. All behavioural observations that occurred in the quarter hour periods up to 165 minutes after an over-flight were analyzed. Alert and courtship behaviours of Canada Geese increased after over-flights. Other behaviours were negatively affected to a lesser degree. Locomotor activities by Black Ducks increased significantly immediately following over-flights with a stronger movement response with increased noise. Increases in agonistic and comfort behaviours of Common Goldeneye were detected following over-flights with few other significant affects on their behaviour. / Key words. Anas rubripes, Branta canadensis, Bucephala clangula, disturbance, jet aircraft, Labrador, low-level flying, military activity, noise, spring staging, time-activity budgets, waterfowl

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No description available.