Blue Goose Research Articles

The Blue Goose in Western Saskatchewan

The Blue Goose in Western Saskatchewan

Assortative mating and reciprocal difference in the blue-snow goose complex.

THE lesser snow goose Chen hyperborea and the blue goose Chen caerulescens are maintained as good species by the standard taxonomic works1 though the morphological difference between them is confined to colour of plumage. The geographical distribution of the two is different. The snow goose ranges through Siberia, western Canada, the Hudson Bay area and Baffin Island; west of Banks Island the populations are unmixed. To the east, however, most populations contain some blue geese and in the Bowman Bay area of Baffin Island there exist several populations in which more than 90 per cent of the birds are blue. Where the populations are mixed, interbreeding between the two occurs, and the progeny produced are viable, fertile2 and phenotypically distinct3. This has led some authorities4 to consider the two forms to be polymorphs of one biological species. This communication is concerned with observations made by one of us (F. G. C.) on breeding behaviour in the mixed Boas River population, and for convenience the terms blue and snow are used in a purely descriptive sense. Table 1 shows the observed and expected (random mating) distribution for three types of mating : (1) both snow birds ; (2) both blue birds ; (3) one snow and one blue bird in a random sample of 520 breeding pairs from the Boas River population in 1952.

The Blue Goose in Saskatchewan

The Blue Goose in Saskatchewan

Impaction and Pressure Necrosis in Canada Geese Due to Eating Dry Hulled Soybeans

that from 30 to 40 per cent of the geese contracting the condition are affected with the acute type. Snow and blue geese (Chen hyperborea and C. coerulescens) that occupy the refuge at the same time are not affected, apparently because they seldom feed on, or at least do not gorge themselves on, soybeans. Observation of the phenomenon was first made by my department in the fall of 1950 by Benbrook (1950). Hanson and Smith (1950) have made some careful observations of this condition since 1943. Attention was first drawn to the acute

On Certain Anatids of Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island

Of ten ducks, geese and swans known to breed in southern Baffin, seven were observed by the writers, June 14-Aug. 1953, near the end of Frobisher Bay; Canada geese, snow geese, blue geese, old-squaws, common eiders, king eiders, and red-breasted mergansers are described: numbers seen, the young, physical appearance of adults and young.

Hybridization of Canada Geese with Blue Geese in the Wild

Hybridization of Canada Geese with Blue Geese in the Wild

Lesser Snow Goose and Blue Goose at Lexington, Virginia

Lesser Snow Goose and Blue Goose at Lexington, Virginia

Blue Goose in Centre County, Pennsylvania

Blue Goose in Centre County, Pennsylvania

Supplementary data concerning the blue goose

Supplementary data concerning the blue goose

Hybrid between Snow and Blue Goose in Washington, D. C.

Hybrid between Snow and Blue Goose in Washington, D. C.

Satisfactory War-Time Rations for Pheasant Chicks

demische Verlags Gesellschaft, p. 410. 29. NELSON, E. W. 1881. Habits of the black brant in the vicinity of St. Michaels, Alaska. Nuttall Ornith. Club Bull., 6: 131-138. 30. 1883. Cruise of the Corwin in Alaska and the Northwest Arctic Ocean in 1881. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, pp. 94-95. 31. 1887. Report upon natural history collection made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 1881. Arctic Series of Publications, Signal Service, U. S. Army, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 49th Cong. 1st Sess. Misc. Doc. 156, No. 3, pp. 87-89. 32. PETERS, J. L. 1931. Check-list of birds of the world. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1: 149-150. 33. PHILLIPS, J. C. 1932. Fluctuation in numbers of the eastern brant goose. Auk, 49: 445-453. 34. SOPER, J. D. 1930. The blue goose. Ottawa, Canada. Dept. of Int., p. 40. 35. SUTTON, G. M. 1932. The exploration of Southampton Island, Hudson Bay. Carnegie Mus. Mem., 12, Pt. 2, Zool. Sect. 2-Birds of Southampton Island, pp. 41-44. 36. VAN DYKE, T. S. 1883. Hills and streams of southern California. American Field, 19: 226-227. 37. WITHERBY, H. F., et al. 1939. Handbook of British birds. London, H. F. & G. Witherby Ltd., 3: 214-215.

Lesser Snow and Blue Geese on Southampton Island

Lesser Snow and Blue Geese on Southampton Island

Another Blue Goose in Maine

Another Blue Goose in Maine

Blue Geese on National Wildlife Refuges of the Atlantic Coast, Winter of 1941-'42

Blue Geese on National Wildlife Refuges of the Atlantic Coast, Winter of 1941-'42

Life History of the Blue Goose, Chen caerulescens (Linnaeus), by J. Dewey Sloper [Review

Life History of the Blue Goose, Chen caerulescens (Linnaeus), by J. Dewey Sloper [Review

Greater Snow and Blue Geese in New Jersey

Greater Snow and Blue Geese in New Jersey

Winter Food of Snow and Blue Geese in Delaware

Winter Food of Snow and Blue Geese in Delaware

Blue Goose in New Hampshire

Blue Goose in New Hampshire

Blue Goose and American Egret in Chester County, Pennsylvania

Blue Goose and American Egret in Chester County, Pennsylvania

A Summary of Recent Events Pertaining to the Blue and Lesser Snow Goose

FOR comparison with recent events, it seems of value here to attempt first a brief review of the usual spring and autumn movements of the Blue Goose (Chen caerulescens) and that segment of the population of the Lesser Snow Goose (Chen hyperborea hyperborea) with which it is usually associated. The Blue Goose winters mainly on the Gulf coast of Louisiana.' In the spring, late March,2 it starts its migration northward with a contingent mixture of lesser Snow Geese. The general course followed is through the continental interior approximately along a line which traces or parallels the Mississippi Valley. No great stopover area is known within this broad region, but beyond it, at Meadows3 (and vicinity), near Winnipeg, Manitoba and at Whitewater Lake, Manitoba,4 many of these birds congregate. The Whitewater flocks, and, prior to 1925, those at Meadows, have been predominantly Lesser Snow Geese. It is improbable that the entire Blue Goose population stops at these two places, though it would seem that a large percentage does so. About the subsequent course of these flocks or stop-overs made by others, we know very little. Occasional flocks of waveys which probably include Blue Geese are seen passing northward as far east as Port Arthur. Perhaps these flocks make a direct course for James After a stay of from four to five weeks in southern Manitoba, the Geese continue northward. Bent' states that the main flight in spring seems to pass up the east side of James Bay. Discrepancies between the departure dates from Manitoba and arrival dates on their breeding grounds6 indicate loitering about the shores of James and Hudson Bays. After the breeding season, Blue Geese gradually shift southward to the tidal flats on the coast of James This movement starts in late August. During September, together with Lesser Snow Geese, they congregate in large flocks on the east and west coasts of James Bay and more particularly at Hannah Bay at its southern extremity. Here they normally remain until the advent of a pronounced freeze-up, whereupon there is a sudden and usually complete exodus. According to 0. J. Murie (Bent), the departure is made in late October or early November. The route followed to their