Factors influencing nest survival in resident Canada geese

Abstract

ABSTRACTOverpopulation of Canada goose (Branta canadensis) that make up the Atlantic Flyway Resident Population (AFRP) in New Jersey led to the implementation of a management program that includes hunter harvest, culling programs, and efforts to reduce recruitment through nest destruction. We investigated clutch size, hatchability, and nest survival of Canada goose nests in the AFRP in New Jersey during 1985–1989, 1995–1997, and 2009–2010, and identified ecological, temporal, and spatial variables associated with nest survival to better understand the factors influencing population growth. Mean (±SE) clutch size was 4.86 eggs (±0.04), and mean hatchability of all eggs was 0.61 ± 0.04 across the study. Mean hatchability in 2009–2010 was significantly lower than in the 1980s and 1990s, whereas we did not detect any significant differences in mean clutch size across the decades. Nest survival decreased across the decades, with survival probabilities ranging from 0.68 ± 0.03 in 1988 to 0.45 ± 0.02 in 2010, likely related to reproductive control programs. Nest survival was influenced by date within the nesting season, decade, precipitation, and extreme high temperature. Further, nest survival was associated with commercial‐industrial, agricultural, and urban residential land use at a site level (0.25 km), and natural and urban residential land use at a landscape level (2.25 km and 0.75 km, respectively). Commercial land use (e.g., corporate parks and golf courses) offers favorable Canada goose nesting habitat at the site level, with manicured lawns, man‐made ponds, and decreased predator habitat (e.g., dense tree, shrub cover). We recommend targeting population management efforts in commercial, industrial, and urban residential areas these land uses were associated with increased nest survival. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.