Molt Migration in Relation to Breeding Success in Greater Snow Geese

We describe summer migratory movements by female greater snow geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica) breeding on Bylot Island, Nunavut. We followed 121 radio-collared females between 1997 and 2001 to determine the frequency and timing of their departure from the colony in relation to breeding status, nesting success, and molting chronology. We found that 90% (n = 51) of non-breeders (no nest found) and 97% (n = 29) of failed nesters (nest destroyed or abandoned before hatch) departed the island before molting. The few non-breeders that remained on Bylot Island all summer molted earlier than adults with young, and they appeared to initiate the fall migration before breeding geese. In contrast, only 2% of successful nesters (n = 41) left Bylot Island to molt, and those that did presumably had lost their offspring in the early stages of brood rearing. Thus, the occurrence of a molt migration in greater snow geese appears to be strongly dependent on reproductive status and nesting success. The area used by molt migrants and their habitat requirements during molt remain unknown. We suggest that the paucity of predator-safe areas (such as large water bodies) on Bylot Island may be an important factor that drives the geese to molt elsewhere

Anatidae · Biology · Brood · Geography · Habitat · Larva · Moulting · Muda · Nest (protein structural motif) · Offspring · Population · Pregnancy · Reproductive success · Snow · Waterfowl · Zoology · Animal Behavior and Reproduction · Avian ecology and behavior · Demography · Ecology · Genetic diversity and population structure

• Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Ecological Science

  Open Access•Catherine A Gagnon, Dominique Berteaux•Conservation Ecology•2009

  Añadir item

• Waterfowl and Lunate Crescents in Western North America

  Open Access•M L Mo, Jon M Erlandson et al.•Journal of World Prehistory•2013

  Añadir item

• Pseudoreplication and the Design of Ecological Field Experiments

  Open Access•Stuart H Hurlbert•Ecological Monographs•1984

  Añadir item

• Effects of Snow and Ice on Waterfowl Distribution in the Central Canadian Arctic Islands

  Open Access•Margaret A McLaren, W George Alliston•ARCTIC•1985

  Añadir item

• The Numbers and Distribution of Greater Snow Geese on Bylot Island and near Jungersen Bay, Baffin Island, in 1988 And 1983

  Open Access•Austin Reed, Hugh Boyd et al.•ARCTIC•1992

  Añadir item

• Breeding, Moulting, and Site Fidelity of Brant (≤i≥Branta bernicla≤/i≥) on Bathurst and Seymour Islands in the Canadian High Arctic

  Open Access•Michéal O'Briain, Austin Reed et al.•ARCTIC•1998

  Añadir item