| Humboldt
Bay Goose Study |
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Goals include
gathering data that will be useful to policy makers when addressing
socio-political issues dealing with the geese in the Arcata area. There
are four initial operational objectives.
- assess habitat preferences and diet in all seasons
- determine habitat characteristics of
roosts, nests and brood-rearing sites
- determine energy budget in relation to disturbance (natural and human mediated)
- determine carrying capacity of habitats
- assess response of goose plant-foods to grazing and fertilizing from goose droppings
- determine fate of broods & lifetime reproduction of marked birds
- determine movement of marked individuals
throughout range
The HSU waterfowl research
group will also address questions dealing with traditional use of sites,
mate choice, divorce, pair bond tenacity, extra-pair behavior, adoption
and parental care.
Though the study will focus
on the resident Western Canada Geese Branta canadensis moffitti,
we are also interested in the stopover ecology Aleutian Geese
Branta hutchinsii leucopareia. Individuals of both races have
been fitted with codes neck collars that are readable with a telescope.
Students will
be encouraged to record the location of foraging flocks and individually
marked geese. In particular, participation will be expected from students
in Waterfowl 420, Wildlife
Techniques 311, and Wildlife Ethology
475.
- Fat scores - You may attribute a field index to each
bird by determining the fatness of the abdomen. Make sure the
bird is parallel to the observer and check whether it is 0=concaved/thin,
1=straight, 2=convex, 3=rounded, 4=well rounded/bulging. With
practice, you may see that some fat scores fall between two
index-points, so a score of 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, or 3.5 may be more
appropriate.
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Collar resightings information 
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