Snow‐patch foraging by pink‐footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus in south Iceland

• Published in: Ecography
• Main Authors: Fox, A. D., Gitay, H., Boyd, H., Tomlinson, C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1991
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Anser brachyrhynchus; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1991.tb00636.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0587.1991.tb00636.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1991.tb00636.x

The pre‐nesting feeding behaviour of pink‐footed geese was studied in hayfields in southern Iceland during the late spring of 1989. Persistent snow‐patches protected underlying grass from the effects of severe night‐time frost. Areas within 1 m of snow‐patches had significantly greater amounts of green material than those further away; green material contained more than double the protein of brown, dead material, which predominated in open fields. Geese spent nearly 60 times more time feeding within 1 m of snow patches than expected by chance, and 20 times more time within 2–5 m. Their feeding rates here were faster and their step rate slower than further away. In this way, the geese selected the prime forage as soon as it became available.