Subject: Re: Canada Goose Movements
Date: Jun 8 10:41:20 1995
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


>Here are some details from Canada Goose band numbers I read at Montlake Fill.
>The first line contains the band number, age (if known), site and date when
>the bird was banded. The second line gives the site where it was seen.
>
>0828-81888 1+ years old, female, 11 miles S. of Emida, Idaho, 6/20/91.
> Seen, Montlake Fill, Seattle, Washington, 5/13/95.
>0828-81719 1+ years old, female, near Dreary, Idaho, 6/20/91
> Seen, Montlake Fill, 5/13/95.
>0828-81719 1st year, near Dreary, Idaho, 7/09/91
> Seen, Montlake Fill, 4/30/95.
>0828-89945 1+ years old, female, near Almota, Washington, 6/21/92
> Seen, Montlake Fill, 4/30/95.
>0828-43260 1st year, near Gibraltar, Michigan, 6/28/92
> Seen, Montlake Fill, 2/20/95.
>0828-43275 1+ years old, near Gibraltar, Michigan, 6/28/92
> Seen, Montlake Fill, 2/20/95.
>
>The Idaho birds are not too surprising, but I thought the Michigan birds were
>kinda neat. Fish & Wildlife don't publish and distance, compass and duration
>information on the certificate :-(, but still, Michigan is quite a way away -
>at least by Scottish standards ;-).
>
>Stuart

Stuart, this completely blows my mind. Nothing I know about Canada Geese
prepares me for birds from Michigan visiting Washington. They have
traditional migration paths that don't deviate all that much in east-west
directions, and the young stay with the adults rather than dispersing
widely. This is truly amazing, something I would expect from a duck but
not a goose. As they were seen in February, I assume they were wintering
birds rather than migrants.

Were these "Great Basin" Canada Geese or one of the smaller subspecies?
Any idea? I wonder if the "Great Basin" (Branta canadensis moffitti) type
that's been widely introduced is prone to wandering around in its almost
semidomestic state. I wonder if the Idaho birds were banded after there
was a policy of trapping our local "pest" birds and transporting them to
Idaho--then they might have been local birds that were just returning. But
the *Michigan* birds--wow! "Kinda neat" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416