Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Evaluation Of Molting Areas Of Great Basin Canada Geese, Paul D. Arneson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Environmental factors at Neponset and Woodruff Narrows reservoirs were evaluated to determine their effects on molting Canada geese. More geese utilized Woodruff Narrows. Geese apparently favored the larger expanse of open water and adequate food supply.

Most of the molting geese were from the Bear River drainage. Some geese came from scattered areas in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. After molting, the geese flew to migration staging areas in southeastern Idaho before migrating to wintering areas in southern California and Arizona.

Females outnumbered males by 6 percent. The mean annual mortality rate for adult geese was 42 percent. Recovery rates …