Survival of Atlantic Flyway resident population Canada geese in New Jersey

Abstract

ABSTRACTAtlantic Flyway Resident Population Canada geese (Branta canadensis) are long‐lived birds that were established during the mid‐1900s. At high densities, resident Canada geese reduce water quality, impair landscape aesthetic, damage crops, and cause safety concerns. Managers need information about survival to more effectively manage these populations via implementation of harvest and cull regulations. We analyzed records for 39,711 Canada geese captured 54,309 times during 1994–2011, of which 5,883 were recovered by the summer of 2012. We used the Burnham model to estimate survival, recapture rate, recovery, and fidelity and identify factors that affect them. Candidate models included combinations of sex, age class, year, hunting season length, bag limit, total harvest, number culled, the North Atlantic Oscillation Index, density, an indicator for urban banded birds, and percent agriculture, natural, rural, and urban land cover at the last known capture location. The best‐supported model included effects of age class, year, and whether the individual was banded in an urban or rural locale on survival and effects of year and locale on Seber recovery rate. We used it to construct a hierarchical model to estimate mean survival and Seber recovery rates for urban and rural birds and their variances. Mean survival of after‐hatch‐year urban Canada geese was 0.724 (95% CI: 0.675–0.772) and that of after‐hatch‐year rural geese was 0.718 (0.665–0.770). Based on estimates of survival and recovery, mean harvest rate was 3.8% (3.4–4.2%) for after‐hatch‐year urban geese and 7.8% (6.7–9.0%) for after‐hatch‐year rural geese. Hatch‐year geese in rural areas had lower survival and higher harvest rates than after‐hatch‐year geese, but the opposite was true in urban areas. Survival generally decreased over the course of the study and harvest increased. Hatch‐year males had the lowest fidelity of any group, and after‐hatch‐year geese of both sexes had fidelity greater than 85%. Knowledge of survival and its relationship with management and environmental factors will allow managers to better predict population responses to harvest and cull and to achieve population goals. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.