Habitat Use by Greater Snow Geese During the Brood-Rearing Period

ARCTIC ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Giroux ◽  
Yves Bédard ◽  
Jean Bédard
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Snow Geese

Habitat use and behaviour of Greater Snow Geese during movements from nesting to brood-rearing areas

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 1096-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mainguy ◽  
G. Gauthier ◽  
J.-F. Giroux ◽  
I. Duclos
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Greater Snow Goose ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Atlantica ◽  
Precocial Birds ◽  
Aerial Tracking

Many precocial birds make long-distance movements with their young after hatch to reach the best foraging sites. On Bylot Island, Nunavut, a large number of Greater Snow Goose ( Chen caerulescens atlantica L., 1758) families move 30 km from the main nesting colony (MNC) to reach the main brood-rearing area (MBR) soon after hatch. Geese moving from the MNC to the MBR generally rear lighter and smaller goslings than geese that avoid this movement by both nesting and rearing their brood at the MBR. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that use of low-quality habitats and an increase in the time spent walking at the expense of foraging during movements could explain the reduced growth of goslings in those families. We conducted visual observations to compare habitat use and selection as well as behaviour of geese during brood movements from the MNC to the MBR (i.e., at a transit area) with those of families that had already settled at the MBR. We also conducted aerial tracking to monitor habitat use of 16 radio-marked females during and after brood movements. Streams, wet polygons, and lakes, considered high-quality habitats in terms of feeding opportunities and predator refuges, were preferred, while upland, a low-quality habitat, was avoided at both the transit area and the MBR. However, broods were found in the upland habitat more often during movements than once settled on a rearing site. The behaviour of unmarked geese at the transit site did not differ from that of geese at the MBR. We suggest that reduced food intake in low-quality habitats during movements, but not the increase in time spent walking, may explain the reduction in growth observed at fledging in goslings moving from the MNC to the MBR.

Long-term vegetation changes in a Snow Goose nesting habitat

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 965-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Ganter ◽  
Fred Cooke ◽  
Pierre Mineau
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Nesting Habitat ◽  
Snow Goose ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Bare Sediment ◽  
Snow Geese

Vegetation in a small section of nesting habitat in a Lesser Snow Goose colony was mapped in 1976 and again in 1993. During the 17-year period, ground cover changed dramatically from being dominated by salt-marsh graminoids and short grasses to being dominated by willows and areas of bare sediment. Lyme grass, Elymus arenarius, a plant strongly favoured by Snow Geese when selecting their nest sites, which covered 15% of the ground in 1976, had completely disappeared by 1993. Although the area had contained 79 Snow Goose nests in 1976, no nests remained in 1993. Degradation of the nesting habitat is caused by foraging activities of the geese themselves during the prenesting and nesting phase: salt-marsh graminoids and short grasses are removed by grubbing and the sediment is exposed; E. arenarius plants are removed by shoot pulling. Both clutch size and hatching success can be negatively affected by the decline in available food plants, and, presumably as a consequence, the area was abandoned by breeding geese. This habitat destruction and subsequent abandonment of nesting areas by breeding geese is a process similar to that documented for brood-rearing areas of Lesser Snow Geese.

Interactions between land use, habitat use, and population increase in greater snow geese: what are the consequences for natural wetlands?

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 856-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Gauthier ◽  
Jean-Francois Giroux ◽  
Austin Reed ◽  
Arnaud Bechet ◽  
Luc Belanger
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Natural Wetlands

scholarly journals Gosling Growth and Survival in Relation to Brood Movements in Greater Snow Geese (Chen Caerulescens Atlantica)

The Auk ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 1077-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Mainguy ◽  
Gilles Gauthier ◽  
Jean-François Giroux ◽  
Joël Bêty
Keyword(s):  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Movement Distance ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Atlantica ◽  
Precocial Birds

Abstract Post-hatch brood movements to high-quality foraging sites are common in precocial birds but may entail costs for young. We assessed effects of overland movements of broods between the nesting and rearing areas in Greater Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica) breeding on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada, to determine whether these movements affected gosling survival and growth. We monitored 51 radiomarked females over five years to quantify movement distance, movement duration, and gosling survival. Gosling growth was compared over four years using a sample of web-tagged broods recaptured shortly before fledging among adults that (1) nested and reared their young in a dense colony, (2) left the colony and moved ≈30 km to reach the main brood-rearing area, or (3) nested and reared their young in the main brood-rearing area. Brood movements by radio-marked birds were highly variable (2.6-52.5 km, depending on rearing areas used) and fairly rapid (≤6 days after hatch for 72% of the females). Gosling survival was not related to distance moved between nesting and brood-rearing areas. However, gosling growth was influenced by areas used and whether or not they had to move to reach their brood-rearing area. Geese nesting at the main brood-rearing area generally reared heavier and larger goslings than those that moved ≈30 km from the main nesting colony to rear their brood at the main brood-rearing area. On the other hand, goslings leaving the nesting colony after hatch were heavier and larger than those that stayed there throughout brood rearing in one of two years. Although brood movements allow goslings access to high-quality habitats, they entail some costs. Thus, minimizing such movements through nest-site selection should provide a selective advantage by allowing goslings to maximize their growth. Croissance et Survie des Oisons en Relation avec les Déplacements des Familles chez Chen caerulescens atlantica

scholarly journals EARLY BROOD-REARING HABITAT USE AND PRODUCTIVITY OF GREATER SAGE-GROUSE IN WYOMING

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin M. Thompson ◽  
Matthew J. Holloran ◽  
Steven J. Slater ◽  
Jarren L. Kuipers ◽  
Stanley H. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Sage Grouse ◽  
Brood Rearing

Spring Habitat Use and Diets of Midcontinent Adult Lesser Snow Geese

1992 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray T. Alisauskas ◽  
C. Davison Ankney
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese

Habitat Use by Snow Geese Wintering in Southeast Texas

1984 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C. Hobaugh
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Southeast Texas

scholarly journals Habitat Use by Brood-Rearing Waterfowl in Subarctic Québec

ARCTIC ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Décarie ◽  
François Morneau ◽  
Daniel Lambert ◽  
Suzanne Carrière ◽  
Jean-Pierre L. Savard
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Brood Rearing
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