Populations of Giant Canada Geese (Branta canadensis maxima) have increased dramatically throughout most of the Mississippi Flyway. This population expansion has been accompanied by an increase in goose-related problems, including depredation of agricultural crops, airport hazards, fecal contamination of water used for drinking or swimming, and damage to lawns, parks, beaches, and golf courses, caused by overgrazing, trampling, feathers, and defecation. Failure to control giant Canada goose populations through traditional harvest methods such as hunting, has prompted interest in alternative harvest methods (nest manipulations, welfare harvest, and nesting female harvest) as a means of reducing goose numbers. The intent of this research was to generate long-term reproductive, survival and bioenergetics data and to utilize these data to develop a population model specific to Missouri Giant Canada Geese. The model was then used to identify population parameters that most influence population growth and to evaluate proposed management actions. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the effect of adult survival on population growth was much greater than any other population parameter. Alternative harvest simulations indicated that nesting female harvest was the most effective means of reducing populations to statewide management objectives. From a management perspective, our results indicate that efforts to control numbers of giant Canada geese should focus on reducing adult survival, in particular adult female survival. It is unlikely that the required reduction in adult survival necessary to reach management objectives will be achieved through traditional harvest methods. Therefore, a combination of non-hunting lethal alternatives will be required.

During the past 15 years considerable attention has been focused on research and management problems associated with the Mississippi Valley population of Canada Geese. The general breeding, migration, and wintering ranges are well defined. Because this flock is closely associated with national wildlife refuges and State management areas in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the majority of this population winters in southern Illinois and vicinity, it has been possible to determine quite accurately annual total population trends, annual harvest rates, and the breeding potential of the population sent back to the breeding grounds each spring. Based on knowledge accumulated for this population, steps are being taken to compile similar information for other major continental Canada goose populations.

The eight currently recognized species of North American geese are part of a familiar group of birds collectively called waterfowl, all of which are smaller than swans and generally larger than ducks. They include the most popular of our aquatic gamebirds, with several million shot each year by sport hunters. Our two most abundant waterfowl, the Canada goose and snow goose, have populations collectively totaling about 15 million individuals. Like swans, the lifelong pairbonding of geese, their familial care, and prolonged social attachment to their offspring are legendary. Their seasonal migratory flights sometimes span thousands of miles, and the sight of their long, wavering flight formations are as much the symbols of seasonal change as are the spring songs of cardinals or the appearance of autumnal leaf colors. This book describes each species' geographic range and subspecies, its identification traits, weights and measurements, and criteria for its age and sex determination. Ecological and behavioral information includes each species' breeding and wintering habitats, its foods and foraging behavior, its local and long distance movements, and its relationships with other species. Reproductive information includes each species' age of maturity, pair-bond pattern, pair-forming behaviors, usual clutch sizes and incubation periods, brooding behavior, and postbreeding behavior. Mortality sources and rates of egg, young, and adult losses are also summarized, and each species' past and current North American populations are estimated. In addition to a text of nearly 60,000 words, the book includes 8 maps, 21 line drawings, and 28 photographs by the author, as well as more than 700 literature citations.