Saturday, Jul. 05, 2008

State studying Canada geese lifestyle

By Kevin McCullen, Herald staff writer

The lifestyles of urban and rural Canada geese in Eastern Washington are the focus of a five-year state Department of Fish and Wildlife study.

Biologists and volunteers expect by the end of this week to capture and band about 500 Canada geese at locations throughout Eastern Washington to compare hunter harvest, migration and survival and reproduction rates of birds that favor either a traditional rural setting or the comfort of an urban area.

The bulk of the study geese were trapped and banded in the Tri-Cities on Tuesday, where volunteers and biologists tagged 309 Canada geese in Columbia Park and on the Pasco side of the river, said Mikal Moore, waterfowl specialist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Biologists and volunteers noted the age and sex of each captured bird before attaching a leg band. Geese currently are molting and unable to fly, making their capture easier.

Adult geese also were fitted with neck collars with visible numbers and codes, which will allow biologists and bird watchers to track them by sight year-round.

Biologists hope to recapture some of the marked geese in the Tri-Cities and other banding locations next year and in ensuing years to help wildlife managers and biologists determine annual survival and hunter harvest. Information gathered from the research will help guide management decisions about goose hunting regulations.

This is the first such study of locally breeding Canada geese in Eastern Washington in 15 years, and the first to examine the urban goose population, she said.

There are no accurate estimates of the resident Canada goose population in Eastern Washington, but biologists have noticed changes in nesting patterns in some rural locations.

"Our goose nest counts have been declining in our traditional survey areas, but the number of geese is going up, particularly in urban areas," Moore said.

"We want to look at annual survival, movement patterns and harvest rates and be able to compare our local harvest rates with those of small Canada geese that migrate from Canada," she said.

One possibility for the drop in rural areas could be fluctuating water levels on rivers and wetlands, allowing predators access to nests, Moore said. And some geese also may have found urban settings more conducive to nesting because of a lack of predators and an overall absence of hunting pressure.

Canada geese can live as long as 15 years, Moore said. So adult birds in an urban area potentially could reproduce for much longer than a goose in a rural setting.

Biologists already made one striking observation about geese in the Tri-Cities. Of the 309 that were tagged, 224 were adult birds, Moore said. Many of them likely had not bred this year, and most were in groups with birds of a similar size.

"Some of them may not be resident birds. They could have come from anywhere," Moore said.

In fact, one of the birds that was rounded up and turned loose likely was a lesser Canada from Alaska, Moore said.

Bird watchers who see collared geese or hunters who shoot a banded goose should report the number, along with the location and date, to the U.S. Geological Services Bird Banding Laboratory at 1-800-327-BAND or online at www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/homepage/call800.htm

* Kevin McCullen: 582-1535; kmccullen@tricityherald.com