BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Branta canadensis | Canada Goose 



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
Pair Data - usually monogamous for life; faithful to natal areas
Nesting season - March through June
Clutch - four to six eggs; may renest if first clutch is destroyed
Incubation - varies between populations; 24 to 29 days
Fledge - varies with populations; 42 to 86 days 
[1,14,15]


PREFERRED HABITAT : 
Canada geese occupy a variety of habitats and have diverse nesting
habits.  They will usually return to the same nesting spots every year.
The northern populations breed by open tundra, while southern
populations breed near lakes or rivers and forests or open land [17].
Tundra nesters prefer firm ground on small islands surrounded by open
water with good visibility to detect predators [14].  Canada geese
prefer to nest on dry ground but near water and feeding areas.  In some
areas reeds are preferred for nesting while bulrush is used more
frequently in others [14].  Canada geese can nest on the ground; on
muskrat lodges; in old nests of eagles, herons, and osprey; on cliffs or
haystacks; or on nesting platforms [1,17].  They also frequent
agricultural land, inland or coastal marshes, and gravel pits.
Reservoirs and lakes surrounded by grasslands and agricultural land are
the most important breeding grounds for western Canada geese in southern
Alberta [15].  This same population uses rivers, reservoirs, and
impoundments in Montana; and marshes, river islands, flooded
bottomlands, and reservoirs in Idaho [15].


COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
Because Canada geese nest in a wide variety of sites, their cover
requirements are not very specialized or specific.  Nesting sites that
offer good visibility of the surrounding area, protection from
predators, and are fairly close to the water (within 1 to 94 meters) are
usually adequate enough to support a viable population of geese [4,19].
It is possible that fidelity to nesting sites is so strong that the type
of cover chosen, whether shrub or grassland, is almost irrelevent in
parts of Alaska [3].  Instead, nesting success may depend heavily on the
absence of predators.


FOOD HABITS : 
Canada geese eat roots, tubers, and leaves of various food plants which
are usually locally abundant.  Some foods include cordgrass (Spartina
spp.), saltgrass (Distichlis spp.), pondweed (Potamogeton spp.), wigeon
grass (Ruppia spp.), bulrush, sedge, cattail, glasswort (Salicornia
spp.), spikerush (Eleocharis spp.), giant burreed (Sparganium
eurycarpum), smartweed (Polygonum spp.), common harnwort (Ceratophyllum
demersum), clover (Trifolium spp.), brome (Bromus spp.), foxtail
(Alopecurus spp.), orchardgrass, bluegrass (Poa spp.), fescue (Festuca
spp.), horsetail (Equisetum spp.), and bird's foot trefoil (Lotus
corniculatus) [1,14].  Canada geese also consume a lot of crops such as
alfalfa (Medicago sativa), corn (Zea mays), millet, rye (Secale spp.),
barley (Hordeus spp.), sorghum (Sorghum spp.), oats (Avena spp.), and
wheat (Triticum spp.) [1,6].


PREDATORS : 
Canada goose predators include humans; ravens,crows, and magpies
(Corvidae); gulls (Larus spp.); parasitic jaeger (Stercorarius
parasitucus); foxes (Vulpes, Urocyon, Aplex); brown bear (Ursus arctos);
coyote (Canis latrans); raccoon (Procyon lotor); badger (Taxidea taxus);
and bobcat (Felis rufus) [3,13].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Canada geese have become a nuisance in the Atlantic flyway states by
overrunning golf courses, beaches, parks, playing fields, and yards
[20].  A chemical repellant, methiocarb, has been applied to grass to
prevent geese from grazing some of these areas [5].  The methiocarb
makes the geese sick but so far has not proved fatal, although the toxic
effects are still under investigation.  Canada geese have been killed in
great numbers (more than 200) from the application of the pesticide
parathion in Texas [10].  Golden and bald eagles (Aquila chrysaetos;
Haliaeetus leucocephalus) have been seen feeding on parathion-killed
carcasses.  Parathion is widely used near Canada geese wintering grounds
in Texas.  Crop depredation from grazing Canada geese is a problem in
the eastern states.  Seeding rates of winter wheat can be increased by
34 to 68 kg/ha to compensate for reduced stem densities [9].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Branta canadensis | Canada Goose