Nesting and brood-rearing ecology of resident Canada geese in New Jersey

• Main Author: Guerena, Katherine
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Delaware 2012
• Subjects: Canada goose > New Jersey; Nest building > New Jersey; Canada; Branta canadensis; Canada Goose
• Online Access: http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/11194

The Atlantic Flyway Resident Population (AFRP) of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) in New Jersey has grown so considerably during the last thirty years that it is now considered a nuisance in urban areas (United States Fish and Wildlife Service 2003). New Jersey is also the most densely human populated state in the nation, with intensive urbanization of agricultural and natural lands. Development of corporate parks and urban areas with manicured lawns and artificial ponds offer ideal nesting habitat for AFRP geese, with limited pressure from hunting or natural predators. As a result, spatial heterogeneity in reproduction and survival must be taken into account in managing the population. My objectives for this study were to 1) identify the spatial scale/s at which land use features influence nest site selection and nest success, 2) estimate nesting parameters across three decades and identify variables that influence productivity, and 3) estimate pre-fledged gosling survival from hatch until summer molt banding efforts, in order to assist in developing a spatially-explicit population model for AFRP geese in New Jersey. I conducted a two-year (2009–2010) nesting ecology study of AFRP Canada geese, and compared it to data collected in New Jersey from 1985–1989 and 1995–1997. Nest searches were conducted on 250 1-km2 plots throughout the state, and 309 nests were monitored through hatch to determine the fate. I ran a spatial correlation analysis of land use composition to nest success during 2009–2010 to identify spatial scales at which geese respond to their environment for nest site selection and nest success. All significant spatial scales were at or below 2250m for the five classified land use types. Geese responded to human dominated land uses at a smaller scale than land uses with low human density. Mean clutch size at hatch in 2009–2010 was 4.66 eggs (SE ± 0.12 eggs) and 4.76 eggs (SE ± 0.16 eggs), respectively. Mean hatchability in 2009–2010 was 0.86 (SE ± 0.02) and 0.81 (SE ± 0.02), respectively. I ...