Pre-incubation feeding activities and energy budgets of Snow Geese: can food on the breeding grounds influence fecundity?

Oecologia ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Ganter ◽  
Fred Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Energy Budgets ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Feeding Activities ◽  
Incubation Feeding

Feeding and Digestive Organ Size in Breeding Lesser Snow Geese

The Auk ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Ankney
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Feeding Activity ◽  
Organ Size ◽  
Digestive Organs ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Incubation Feeding ◽  
Low Levels

Abstract The Lesser Snow Geese that nest at the McConnell River, Northwest Territories, feed heavily before arriving on the breeding grounds. During laying and early incubation, feeding declines to low levels but increases slightly during late incubation. After their eggs hatch the geese greatly increase their food intake. These changes in feeding activity are correlated with changes in the average sizes of four digestive organs (pancreas, liver, gizzard, and intestine). The large digestive organs characteristic of arriving and post-hatch geese are due to hyperphagia. Previously reported situations that produced decreased size of avian digestive organs did not account for that condition in incubating geese. The decrease in size of digestive organs during incubation is claimed to be innate; its evolution is discussed.

Nutrient reserve dynamics of lesser snow geese staging at James Bay, Ontario

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. P. Wypkema ◽  
C. Davison Ankney
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Follicular Development ◽  
James Bay ◽  
Fat Reserves ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Nutrient Reserve ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Juvenile Males

We compared mean body weights, nutrient reserves (fat and protein), and an index of feeding of lesser snow geese arriving at and leaving southern James Bay in spring and fall 1976. Feeding increased in spring and decreased in fall. Body weight and protein of adults increased in spring, and fat reserves were maintained. The protein increase of adult females was equivalent to the protein in one egg. Ovarian follicular development in adult females appeared to proceed as reserves became available. Juvenile males had completed body growth by the end of the fall staging period but juvenile females had not. Fat and protein reserves of adults arriving on James Bay in the fall were significantly larger than those of adults after wing molt on the breeding grounds. Fat reserves of adults and juveniles increased significantly during the fall; body weight of juvenile females increased also. The fat gain greatly increases the theoretical maximum flight range of the geese and we suggest it is an important determinant of normal fall migration.

Growth of Lesser Snow Geese on Arctic Breeding Grounds

The Condor ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Aubin ◽  
E. H. Dunn ◽  
C. D. MacInnes
Keyword(s):  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Breeding Grounds

The embarrassment of riches: agricultural food subsidies, high goose numbers, and loss of Arctic wetlands – a continuing saga

2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
R L Jefferies ◽  
R F Rockwell ◽  
K F Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Coastal Marshes ◽  
Migratory Connectivity ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Arctic Wetlands ◽  
Agricultural Food

Agriculture has provided a nutritional subsidy to the Anatidae (swans, geese, ducks), which has affected their trophic relationships and the Arctic wetlands where they breed. The Mid-Continent Population of lesser snow geese, which breeds in the Canadian Arctic and which traditionally wintered in the coastal marshes of the Gulf States, now feeds in agricultural landscapes. The geometric growth of this population since 1970 is coincident with increased application of nitrogen to farmland and high crop yields. Widespread availability of agricultural foods allows the birds to meet much of their energy demand for migration and reproduction. Their migration conforms to a stepping stone model linked to land use, but feeding also takes place upon arrival on the Arctic breeding grounds. High bird numbers have dramatically affected coastal marshes of the Canadian Arctic. Foraging has produced alternative stable states characterized by sward destruction and near irreversible changes in soil properties of exposed sediments. Locally, this loss of resilience has adversely affected different groups of organisms, resulting in an apparent trophic cascade. A spring hunt was introduced in 1999 in an attempt to check population growth. The current annual cull is now thought to be higher than the replacement rate. Much of the decline of the Mid-Continent Population is probably linked to shooting, but the harassment of birds that fail to acquire sufficient food for reproduction may contribute. The agricultural food subsidy has led to a mismatch between this avian herbivore and its environment — a consequence of migratory connectivity that links wintering and breeding grounds. Key words: agricultural crops, lesser snow geese, migratory connectivity, Arctic coastal marshes, grubbing, hypersalinity, the spring hunt.

Is there an Optimal Clutch Size in Snow Geese?

1987 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 839-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Rockwell ◽  
C. S. Findlay ◽  
F. Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Optimal Clutch Size
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