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Large flocks of wild, nonmigratory Canada geese (Branta canadensis) have established permanent residence throughout the eastern United States and have become a public concern. Few studies have assessed the hematologic parameters for these populations, which could provide useful information for monitoring individual and population health of Canada geese. This study measured the hematologic parameters and detected the presence of hemoparasites from 146 wild, nonmigratory Canada geese in central North Carolina, USA, during their annual molt. The age class, sex, and weight of each bird were recorded at capture. Values for packed cell volume (PCV), estimated white blood cell count, white blood cell differentials, and heterophil : lymphocyte ratios were calculated for each bird. Adults and female geese had higher estimated white blood cell counts compared with juveniles and males, respectively. The PCV increased with weight and age class. Adult geese had higher percentages of heterophils and heterophil : lymphocyte ratios, whereas juvenile geese had higher percentages of lymphocytes. Relative eosinophil counts in adults increased with decreasing bird weight, and relative monocyte counts in juveniles increased with increasing weight. Three percent of geese were infected with species of Hemoproteus blood parasites. Atypical lymphocyte morphology, including pseudopods, split nuclei, and cytoplasmic granules, was observed in 5% of the birds. The hematologic values reported for adult and juvenile nonmigratory Canada geese in this study may serve as reference intervals for ecological studies and veterinary care of wild and captive Canada geese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ten years ago, I summarized hypotheses for the abundance of bird wing elements in archaeological sites and rejected the hypothesis that differential preservation caused this pattern in the Pacific Northwest Coast (). I also noted that distal wing elements (relative to proximal wings) dominated several assemblages in the Gulf of Georgia sub-region. I re-examine this issue, focusing on behavioral hypotheses for the abundance of distal wings. Ethnographic evidence is used to formulate predictions for the cultural explanations, which are tested using data from the late Holocene Watmough Bay (45SJ280) site, where distal wings comprise 98% of the large duck assemblage (n = 4195). Diving ducks, dabbling ducks, geese, loons and grebes all have more distal wing bones than expected, and were likely caught using submerged nets. The most plausible explanation for the prevalence of distal wing bones is either that only the distal wings were transported back to the sites (perhaps attached to skins) and/or the distal wings were discarded separately during cooking. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Management of Pacific Flyway Canada geese (Branta canadensis) requires information on winter distribution of different populations. Recoveries of tarsus bands from Vancouver Canada geese (B. canadensis fulva) marked in southeast Alaska, USA, ≥4 decades ago suggested that ≥83% of the population was non-migratory and that annual adult survival was high (Ŝ = 0.836). However, recovery distribution of tarsus bands was potentially biased due to geographic differences in harvest intensity in the Pacific Flyway. Also, winter distribution of Vancouver Canada geese could have shifted since the 1960s, as has occurred for some other populations of Canada geese. Because winter distribution and annual survival of this population had not recently been evaluated, we surgically implanted very high frequency radiotransmitters in 166 adult female Canada geese in southeast Alaska. We captured Vancouver Canada geese during molt at 2 sites where adults with goslings were present (breeding areas) and 2 sites where we observed nonbreeding birds only. During winter radiotracking flights in southeast Alaska, we detected 98% of 85 females marked at breeding areas and 83% of 70 females marked at nonbreeding sites, excluding 11 females that died prior to the onset of winter radiotracking. We detected no radiomarked females in coastal British Columbia, or western Washington and Oregon, USA. Most (70%) females moved ≤30 km between November and March. Our model-averaged estimate of annual survival (Ŝ = 0.844, SE = 0.050) was similar to the estimate of annual survival of geese marked from 1956 to 1960. Likely <2% of Vancouver Canada geese that nest in southeast Alaska migrate to winter areas in Oregon or Washington where they could intermix with Canada geese from other populations in the Pacific Flyway. Because annual survival of adult Vancouver Canada geese was high and showed evidence of long-term consistency, managers should examine how reproductive success and recruitment may affect the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the USA's National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, an Interagency Strategic Plan for the Early Detection of Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza in Wild Migratory Birds was developed and implemented. From 1 April 2006 through 31 March 2009, 261 946 samples from wild birds and 101 457 wild bird fecal samples were collected in the USA; no highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected. The United States Department of Agriculture, and state and tribal cooperators accounted for 213 115 (81%) of the wild bird samples collected; 31, 27, 21 and 21% of the samples were collected from the Atlantic, Pacific, Central and Mississippi flyways, respectively. More than 250 species of wild birds in all 50 states were sampled. The majority of wild birds (86%) were dabbling ducks, geese, swans and shorebirds. The apparent prevalence of low pathogenic avian influenza viruses during biological years 2007 and 2008 was 9.7 and 11.0%, respectively. The apparent prevalence of H5 and H7 subtypes across all species sampled were 0.5 and 0.06%, respectively. The pooled fecal samples ( n= 101 539) positive for low pathogenic avian influenza were 4.0, 6.7 and 4.7% for biological years 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively. The highly pathogenic early detection system for wild birds developed and implemented in the USA represents the largest coordinated wildlife disease surveillance system ever conducted. This effort provided evidence that wild birds in the USA were free of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (given the expected minimum prevalence of 0.001%) at the 99.9% confidence level during the surveillance period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about tensions between hunters and people managing the safety of Canada geese. The article notes that it is because geese migrate over long distances that they are a point of contention between indigenous peoples, hunters, and environmental protectors. Further comments are given concerning the differences between geese numbers in Canada and in the U.S.

The article looks at the development of the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges in California and Oregon. The lobbying of William L. Finley to restore the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge during the 1930s is discussed, noting how migratory geese relied on the grain grown on the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge after Lower Klamath became barren. The importance of these refuges in the production of ducks and grains is mentioned. A contract between the U.S. and the California-Oregon Power Company which prohibited the Lower Klamath lake bed from being re-flooded is reviewed.

This article discusses the ethical questions being posed in the force-feeding of ducks and geese. The birds need to be fed extra food to fatten up their livers. Some experts believe force-feeding is cruel because it's causing a disease in the birds that is not natural. American animal rights activists are condemning the import of all foie gras. The French think that is excessive but would understand not eating the industrially produced foie gras from the United States on grounds of cruelty.

The genomic structure anti composition of an avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) recently isolated from wild Canada geese (goose 15a/01) in the United States, together with its replication, virulence, and immunogenicity in domestic turkeys, were investigated. The sizes of seven of the eight genes, sequence identity, and genome organization of goose aMPV were similar to those of turkey aMPV subtype C (aMPV/C) strains, indicating that it belonged to the subtype. However, the goose virus contained the largest attachment (G) gene of any pneumovirus or metapneumovirus, with the predicted G protein of 585 amino acids (aa) more than twice the sizes of G proteins from other subtype C viruses and human metapneumovirus and more than 170 aa larger than the G proteins from the other aMPV subtypes (subtypes A, B, and DJ. The large G gene resulted from a 1,015-nucleotide insertion at 18 nucleotides upstream of the termination signal of the turkey aMPV/C G gene. Three other aMPV isolates from Canada geese had similarly large G genes, whereas analysis of recent aMPV strains circulating in U.S. turkeys did not indicate the presence of the goose virus-like strain. In vitro, the goose virus replicated to levels (2 ⊗ 105 to 5 ⊗ 105 50% tissue culture infective dose) comparable to those produced by turkey aMPV/C strains. More importantly, the virus replicated efficiently in the upper respiratory tract of domestic turkeys but with no clinical signs in either day-old or 2-week-old turkeys. The virus was also horizontally transmitted to naïve birds, and turkey infections with goose 15a/01 induced production of aMPV-specific antibodies. Challenging day-old or 2-week-hid turkeys vaccinated with live goose aMPV resulted in lower clinical scores in 33% of the birds, whereas the rest of the birds had no detectable clinical signs of the upper respiratory disease, suggesting that the mutant virus may be a safe and effective vaccine against aMPV infection outbreaks in commercial turkeys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents several bird species observed in Connecticut from December 1, 2003 through February 29, 2004. Geese; Shorebirds; Waxwings.

The authors explored how citizens reasoned to decide which management options were most appropriate for addressing concerns about an overpopulation of Canada geese in Rockland County, New York. Data were collected through a set of in-depth, semistructured interviews. The reasons respondents offered in support of management alternatives, and the assumptions they made in their reasoning, were identified during the analysis. Seven types of reasons used by citizens to support different management actions were detected, including who was responsible for a situation, who supported different management options, and what procedures were used to select a management option. Among some respondents, thinking about appropriate management options could be constrained unnecessarily by their skills at logical argument, their beliefs about knowledge, their own and others' choice of language to describe their perceptions, and their perceptions of other people. Based on these results, it would be worthwhile to expand the scope of what is normally addressed in public policy education efforts to address the most common assumptions that influence how people think about controversial resource issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary1 We studied the effects of lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) and Canada geese (Branta canadensis) on two salt marsh plant communities in Cook Inlet, Alaska, a stopover area used during spring migration. From 1995 to 1997 we compared plant species composition and biomass on plots where geese were excluded from feeding with paired plots where foraging could occur. 2 Foraging intensity was low (650–1930 goose-days km-2) compared to other goose-grazing systems. 3 Canada geese fed mainly on above-ground shoots of Triglochin maritimum, Puccinellia spp. and Carex ramenskii, whereas the majority of the snow goose diet consisted of below-ground tissues of Plantago maritima and Triglochin maritimum. 4 Plant communities responded differently to goose herbivory. In the sedge meadow community, where feeding was primarily on above-ground shoots, there was no effect of grazing on the dominant species Carex ramenskii and Triglochin maritimum. In the herb meadow community, where snow geese fed on Plantago maritima roots and other below-ground tissues, there was a difference in the relative abundance of plant species between treatments. Biomass of Plantago maritima and Potentilla egedii was lower on grazed plots compared with exclosed, whereas biomass of Carex ramenskii was greater on grazed plots. There was no effect of herbivory on total standing crop biomass in either community. The variable effect of herbivory on Carex ramenskii between communities suggests that plant neighbours and competitive interactions are important factors in a species’ response to herbivory. In addition, the type of herbivory (above- or below-ground) was important in determining plant community response to herbivory. 5 Litter accumulation was reduced in grazed areas compared with exclosed in both communities. Trampling of the previous year’s litter into the soil surface by geese incorporated more litter into soils in grazed areas. 6 This study... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which examined the effects of saline drinking water on the survival and growth of Canada goose (Branta canadensis) goslings at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in western Utah. Study area and methods; Results and discussion; Management implications.

Presents information on a study which focused on two special seasons and the effects on Massachusetts' resident goose population after closure of the regular goose season. Methodology; Results; Discussion.

Focuses on a study which deals with the effect of geese herbivory on Triglochin palustris (arrowgrass) in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (south-western Alaska). Factors which affect arrowgrass size, distribution and biomass allocation; Information on the methods used to conduct the study; Influences which contributed to the negative effect on plant allocation and biomass bulbs; Examination of plants in the slough margin habitat.

Dense aggregations of waterfowl, often caused by loss of native wetlands and increased waterfowl numbers, can result in the destruction of wetland vegetation and agricultural crops, increase the risk of infectious disease outbreaks, and decrease water quality. Problems related to water quality may be particularly severe in arid regions of the southwestern United States, where water quality and quantity are contentious issues. Over 40,000 Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) and Ross’ Geese (Chen rossii) winter annually at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico. Daily feeding bouts by geese move large quantities of nutrients from farm fields where they feed to managed wetlands where they roost. Using energy and mass balance models, population estimates, daily and seasonal migration patterns, and feeding behaviors, we estimated the mass and ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus of nutrients loaded by geese into the wetlands of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Loading rates peaked in late November 1995 at more than 300 kg nitrogen per day and over 30 kg phosphorus per day. As feeding behaviors changed through the winter and bird densities declined, loading rates fell. Our estimates suggest that in the winter of 1995–1996, bird-borne nutrients supplied nearly 40% of the nitrogen and 75% of the phosphorus entering the primary wetland used for geese roosting. High loading rates by geese are a consequence of their colonial roosting behavior; over 90% of the geese roost on 10% of the wetland area. The effects of nutrient loading could be reduced by increasing flushing rates or dispersal of roosting waterfowl. The loss of natural wetlands, however, limits options for expanding wetland area available to waterfowl, and it may be difficult to increase flushing rates in this arid region. Thus, management of waterfowl and the nutrients they move will continue to be an important issue for wetlands of wildlife refuges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which dealt on breeding behavior of Giant Canada Geese (B.c. maxima) in central Missouri. Incidence of breeding by yearlings in this population; Occurence of precocious reproductive activity; Methodology of the study; Results and discussions of the study; Conclusions.