Canada Goose Branta canadensis This information was scanned from The Birds of British Columbia (Campbell et al.), Volume I, pages 276-283. Volumes I, II and III of The Birds of British Columbia can be ordered electronically at: orders@ubcpress.ubc.ca from UBC Press in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Range Canada Goose breeds from the Arctic coast of Alaska and northern Canada east to Labrador and Newfoundland and south to central California, northern Utah, southern Kansas, northern Arkansas, western Tennessee, western Kentucky, central Ohio, and rarely to Maine. Winters locally from southern Canada to northern Mexico and the Gulf Coast of the United States. Introduced in the British Isles, Iceland, and New Zealand.

Status Very abundant spring and autumn migrant throughout the province; locally very common to very abundant in winter along the coast and in the southern interior. Resident populations established locally and increasing. Widespread breeder.

Status Change During the 1940s, the Canada Goose was mainly a migrant and summer visitant in British Columbia, and the occurrence and distribution of the various subspecies were fairly well understood (Munro, J.A. and Cowan 1947). In the 1960s and 1970s, resident populations became well established and began to increase, partly due to the natural adaptability of the species (e.g. B. c. moffltti in the Okanagan valley) but primarily because of transplants of flightless young and breeding stock from a wide variety of races. Those changes have been documented by R.W. Butler. et al. (1986) for the Creston area, R.A. Cannings. et al. (1987) for the Okanagan valley, Dawe and Davies (1975), Leach (1982) and Christmas Bird Counts for the Fraser Lowlands, and I.D. Smith (1972, 1973) for the Nimpkish valley on Vancouver Island. By the late 1970s, the provincial breeding population had increased to an estimated 25,000 birds (Munro, W.T. 1979a).

Nonbreeding Canada Geese are widely distributed throughout the province and can be found almost anywhere permanent water and grazing areas are available. They are one of the most adaptable of waterfowl, responding readily to propagation and feeding programs and adjusting to many man-altered environments. There appear to be 3 routes that migrant Canada Geese use in British Columbia: offshore, coastal, and interior. The offshore movement is the least known. Each autumn, from late August through October, commercial fishermen report southward migrating "geese" up to 48 km offshore. These migrants may be pure flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese (Dzubin et al. 1964), or mixed with B.c. minima (Nelson, U.C. and Hansen 1959) and B.c. occidentalis. Essentially the same routes are used by spring migrants. The northward movement begins in late March, peaks during the latter half of April, and carries through until at least mid-May. In autumn, the coastal movement is most noticeable in the vicinity of Tofino on the central west coast of Vancouver Island. Numbers begin building during the first 3 weeks of October, reach a peak during the first week of November, and clearly dwindle by the end of the month (Blood and Smith 1967; Hatter 1973). Spring migration occurs mostly during the latter half of April. The autumn movement in the interior is protracted, extending from late August through November, and peaking from mid-September through early November. The first spring migrants arrive in southern areas in late February and early March, and in northern areas in late March. That movement peaks in the Chilcotin-Cariboo about mid-April and in the Nechako Lowlands a week later. There may be another large spring movement through the interior that goes almost unnoticed because it occurs at altitudes of up to 4,570 m. Myres and Cannings (1971), during radar studies of migrating geese in the springs of 1965, 1968, and 1969, conclude that between 50,000 and 75,000 geese migrate through the Okanagan valley each year between mid- and late April. The peak passage recorded was on 18 April 1968, when 4,250 geese passed over Penticton in a one hour period. Those migrants may be B. c. parvipes, although Grieb (1970) shows that that race usually migrates through eastern Alberta and western Saskatchewan. Moult migrations, which occur annually in late spring to early autumn, are not well understood in British Columbia. The movements may involve large numbers of birds flying long distances to and from favourite moulting areas (Krohn and Bizeau 1979). Wintering populations are increasing throughout southern areas of the province. Most are associated with cities where airports, golf courses, and farmlands provide rich grazing opportunities and safety from hunters. Along the coast, major wintering areas include the Fraser Lowlands and southeastern Vancouver Island. In the interior, the Okanagan and Thompson basins and the Revelstoke area support significant populations.

Breeding Nests Eggs Young The Canada Goose breeds throughout the province from sea level to 1,250 m elevation. During the past 2 decades, introduced populations have become established and are increasing throughout southern British Columbia. However, natural populations still exist, mostly north of latitude 52°N. The Canada Goose breeds in a variety of habitats, including inland and coastal marshes, islands in lakes, ponds, sloughs, rivers, tundra, muskeg, and man-made environments such as agricultural fields, reservoirs, sanctuaries, ditches and dykes, and sewage lagoons. All nesting habitats have a source of permanent water nearby. The Canada Goose usually breeds singly, but in refuges, sanctuaries, or on islands it will occasionally nest in loose colonies. For example, in 1979, 223 Canada Goose nests were found on Hatfield's Island, a 1.5 ha island in Vaseux Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Nest density was 149 nests/ha.

Nests:  Most nests were associated with lakes, marshes, and slow-moving rivers. The remainder were located in farmlands with irrigation ditches, on sloughs, ponds and bogs, in open mixed woodlands, and in urban areas. Sixty-two percent of 1,244 nests were on islands and 27% were located near the edge of water bodies. Almost all nests were located within 60 m of water but one nest was found 1.6 km from any water. Nests (n=632) were positioned on the ground (64%), in Osprey and Bald Eagle nests (13%), on muskrat or beaver lodges (11%), on artificial nest tubs and platforms (9%), and on other man-made structures such as pilings, bridges, and buildings (3%). Maximum height for a tree nest was 31 m. Nests were usually mounds of grasses, reeds, cattail, sticks, leaves, twigs, mosses, and sedges; most were lined with down and fine grasses. Eggs: Dates for 1,405 clutches ranged from 13 March to 6 July, with 52% recorded between 18 April and 2 May. Sizes for 1,374 clutches ranged from 1 to 14 eggs (lE-31, 2E-52, 3E-111, 4E218, 5E-241, 6E-514, 7E-161, 8E-33, 9E-4, 10E-2, 11E-5, 12E-1, 14E1), with 55% having 5 or 6 eggs. That is within the latitudinal range in variation in clutch size for Canada Geese in North America reported by E.H. Dunn and MacInnes (1987). Nests containing more than 8 eggs probably represent dump laying by intruding females (Bellrose 1976). Incubation period averages about 28 days (Dow, J.S. 1943; Hanson and Browning 1959). Young: Dates for 2,076 broods ranged from 15 April to 24 August, with 52% recorded between 14 May and 15 June. Sizes for 2,033 broods ranged from 1 to 27 young (1Y-82, 2Y-178, 3Y274, 4Y-361, 5Y-388, 6Y-397, 7Y-171, 8Y-85, 9Y-47, 10Y-28, 11Y-9, 12Y-5, 13Y-1, 14Y-4, 15Y-1, 17Y-1, 27Y-1) with 56% having 4 to 6 young. Broods of more than 10 young are likely the result of brood mixing. Fledging period for British Columbia is 63 days (Bellrose 1976).

Remarks No remarks.