Branta hutchinsii leucopareia

Locally in Aleutians and Semdi Is., Alaska (formerly bred from Kuril Is. and Commander Is. east to near Kodiak I.); winters Oregon, California.

Occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations, but breeds in a single state or province

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Transient

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)) The historical breeding range is believed to have extended from the Geese Islands near Kodiak, Alaska, westward on the islands south of the Alaska Peninsula, throughout the Aleutian and Commander Islands (Russia) and at least as far southwest as the central Kuril Islands in Japan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1980, 1991). The wintering range is believed to have included an area from British Columbia to northern Mexico in North America and also the islands of Japan (Delacour 1954).

The present breeding range includes eight islands in the Western Aleutian Islands. In the Near Island group, Buldir Island supports the largest remnant population (80%) of this subspecies. Nizki/Alaid and Agattu islands also now support populations that were re-established by introductions. In the Rat Island group, geese have been recently released on Little Kiska Island and Amchitka. In the east Andreanof Island group, at least one pair is known to have nested on Amukta Island. There is a small remnant population in the Central Aleutian Islands on Chagulak Island. In the Semidi Islands, a small remnant population remains on Kiliktagik Island and geese have recently begun nesting on Anowik Island.

MIGRATION: Banding studies of wild geese on Buldir, Chagulak, and Kiliktagik islands, coupled with annual winter surveys in California, Oregon and Washington indicate there are at least two distinct breeding segments of Aleutian Canada geese: the Aleutian Islands segment, including birds from Chugalak and the western Aleutians; and the Semidi Islands segment (Pierson et al. 2000, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001a). These two groups appear to utilize different wintering areas. Precise migration routes are not known (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991), although the birds are thought to migrate along the Aleutian chain at least as far east as Unimak on their fall migration southward (Woolington et al. 1979).

WINTERING: Banding studies of wild geese on Buldir, Chagulak, Kiliktagik, and in California, coupled with annual winter surveys indicate that there are at least two distinct breeding segments of Aleutian Canada geese. Birds from Buldir, Agattu, and Nizki/Alaid Islands stage in fall and spring in northern coastal California, concentrate in fall in the Sacramento Valley, and spend the winter in the northern San Joaquin Valley. Only a few birds from Chagulak Islands have been banded, but individuals have been located in the El Sobrante area near San Francisco Bay, an area also used by some Near Island breeders in the fall and early winter before they join the majority of Aleutian breeders in the San Joaquin Valley. One Chagulak breeder has been observed in the lower Willamette Valley during the spring, but the complete spring migration route of these birds is not known.

Birds from the Semidi islands winter in north coastal Oregon near Pacific City and Woods. They feed by day in meadows and pastures near the coast, and roost on offshore islands at night. Since fall of 1996, a small number of geese from the Aleutian Islands segment have been observed wintering with the Semidi Islands segment (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001).

An experimental flock was created in 1992 at Petropavlovsk (Kamchatka) to support re-establishment of breeding birds in the Kuril Islands. Aleutian geese have been reintroduced to the Kurils since 1995, and have been seen wintering in Japan since 1997 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001a).

Differs from subspecies minima by slightly larger size, paler breast, and the often broad white neck ring (minima may show a very narrow ring) (NGS 1983).

Comments: BREEDING: Aleutian Canada geese breed exclusively on a small number of Aleutian islands (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991). This region is characterized by a polar maritime climate with high humidity, fog, rain, a small diurnal annual range of temperature, and near constant winds (Jones 1963). Nesting areas have been located on grassy hillsides, along streams, in marshes and lagoons, and on rugged sea cliffs cut by watercourses where grasses and sedges grow in profusion (Murie 1959, Jones 1963, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1980). Molting habitat is generally located in the uplands. Night roosting areas include shallow pools and ponds on the islands.

NONBREEDING: During migration and on wintering grounds, the geese are commonly found in marshes, pastures and grass crops, harvested agriculture fields and flood-irrigated and nonirrigated land (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1980, 1991). Aleutian geese roost on offshore vegetated islands during winter along the Oregon Coast (Semidi geese) and during spring staging in northwest California.

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Most leave breeding grounds in September, leave wintering areas in April.

Comments: Eats various marsh plants, algae, sedge and grass seeds, grain (especially in winter), berries, insects and other terrestrial insects, crustaceans, and mollusks. Obtains food items from water surface or beneath surface in shallow water; also gleans from ground surface. (Ehrlich et al. 1992).

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 6 - 20

Comments: There are currently eight known nesting islands and 39 staging and wintering areas (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991). Historically there were probably hundreds of breeding and nonbreeding occurrences across the former summer and wintering range.

10,000 - 100,000 individuals

Comments: Formerly numbered in the thousands in the Aleutians (King 1979); declined to perhaps 800 in the 1960s. About 2700 individuals were observed in California in 1981 (more than triple the 1975 count) (Matthews and Moseley 1990). Wintering population in California increased an average of 16% annually from 1975 to 1988. Population projections for the 1989-1990 winter season exceeded 6,000 individuals, a 10% increase over 1988-1989 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1990). A 1991 census estimated 7,000 individuals, 90% of which bred on Buldir Island in the western Aleutians. Geese from the Semidi Islands wintering in Oregon numbered 126 individuals during the spring of 1991, up from less than 70 birds during the early 1980s (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991). Since then, this flock has remained relatively stable below 150 birds.

Since 1974, the size of the Aleutian goose population as been estimated from direct counts during spring in northwest California. Results indicate an accelerated rate of increase after 1991 from 7,700 geese to over 52,700 in spring of 2003 (see Springer and Lowe 1998; USFWS unpubl. data). The expanding population prompted use of an indirect method to increase the accuracy of estimation, based on ratios of marked geese (color bands) to unmarked geese. Since 1995, the indirect estimates increased from 16,000 birds to about 62,800 during winter 2002, tracking the trend in direct spring counts (Drut and Trost 2003).

Aleutian geese are adapted to life on maritime islands. They all breed on remote islands, the Semidi geese roost in offshore islands on the Oregon Coast, and spring migrants roost on offshore islands in northwest California. Carcasses have been found along the coast of California and Oregon, victims of sanding during storms and heavy surf (Springer et al. 1989).

Rounded Global Status Rank: T3 - Vulnerable

Reasons: Small breeding range in the Aleutian and Semidi Islands; winters mainly in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Recovery efforts have led to a dramatic population increase in the 1990s, reaching over 62,000 individuals by 2003 (Drut and Trost 2003). There is, however, a continuing and increasing threat of habitat loss on migration and wintering grounds, and the subspecies remains susceptible to illegal hunting, disease, and increasing human disturbance. The Semidi Islands geese wintering on the Oregon coast have numbered fewer that 150, largely because of poor recruitment.

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N3B,N3N : N3B: Vulnerable - Breeding, N3N: Vulnerable - Nonbreeding

Global Short Term Trend: Increase of 10 to >25%

Comments: The population breeding in the western Aleutian Islands grew modestly from about 800 geese in 1975, increasing at about 15% per year through 1991 (see Abundance comments). Between 1992 and 2003, direct spring counts increased at an average of 20% per year; indirect estimates increased at an average of 23% from 1996 to 2003. Breeding ground surveys and winter counts indicate little increase in geese from the Central Aleutian Islands and Semidi Islands (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001a).

Global Long Term Trend: Decline of 50-90%

Degree of Threat: B : Moderately threatened throughout its range, communities provide natural resources that when exploited alter the composition and structure of the community over the long-term, but are apparently recoverable

Comments: Predation by arctic foxes, introduced onto the Aleutian Islands for fur farming, is believed to be the principal cause of the decline of the Aleutian Canada goose. Foxes remain on many of the islands and are a significant deterrent to the full recovery of the geese across their former range (Bailey 1993). Nesting geese are susceptible also to Norway rats that were introduced before or during World War II, and predation by bald eagles may be an important factor in limiting reestablishment of geese on fox-free islands (Byrd 1998).

Although the amount of protected migration and wintering habitat generally is considered sufficient for the security of Aleutian geese (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001a), continuing urbanization and changing agricultural practices could cause changes unfavorable to the geese, particularly in the central San Joaquin Valley and eastern San Francisco Bay. The rapidly growing Aleutian goose population is creating conflicts with agricultural producers in northwest California, mostly during February and March. Landowners have begun hazing geese in spring, and a resolution is needed to accommodate the population at the objective level. Adverse climatic conditions, such as the extended drought recently experienced in California, may accentuate the decline in available habitat and favor undesirable land use practices that could reduce the quality and availability of suitable habitat (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991).

With Aleutian geese at 60,000 birds and growing, a low level of illegal hunting no longer poses a threat to the population, but incidental take and human disturbance may have negative impacts. Outbreaks of disease (primarily avian cholera) historically have affected Aleutian geese on their wintering grounds and could pose a continuing challenge in the future as the number and density of geese increase.

Management Requirements: See King (1979) for historical information on management actions that have been taken. The first Recovery plan was written in 1979; the plan was revised in 1982 and 1991. A major management focus has been an effort to eliminate arctic foxes from breeding islands. Introduced, sterile red foxes have been effective in eliminating arctic foxes from some islands (Bailey 1992). Trap and transplant operations continue as part of the effort to reestablish geese to former breeding islands; geese have been reintroduced successfully on fox-free islands. On migration and wintering grounds, highest priority was placed on securing habitat and maintaining hunting closures. As of 1990, emphasis was on management strategies for remnant populations on Chagulak and Kiliktagik islands (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1990), including protection of wintering areas on the Oregon coast, and meeting the remaining criteria for full recovery.

In 1999, the Pacific Flyway Council adopted a management plan for Aleutian geese (Pacific Flyway Council 1999), in anticipation of "normal" management after delisting. This management plan incorporated relevant objectives from the 1991 recovery plan, as well as the post-delisting monitoring tasks developed by the recovery team. It currently provides guidelines to cooperating agencies for habitat protection and management, population monitoring procedures, harvest strategies, breeding population enhancement, disease control, research needs, and international cooperation on Asian projects.

To protect geese from losses due to disease (primarily avian cholera) roost sites need to be secured and managed to encourage dispersal of geese to prevent concentrations at areas where disease outbreaks of contamination commonly occur. Additionally, it is important that the Aleutian Canada Goose Disease and contamination Hazard Contingency Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1996) be updated annually to reflect new information and agency or personnel changes. This plan remains in effect by cooperating state a federal agencies.

Biological Research Needs: The 1991 Aleutian Canada Goose Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991) outlines the primary research needs necessary for meeting the recovery objectives. These include: 1. Determine the habitat characteristics for breeding use areas in the central Aleutians and the Semidi Islands. 2. Evaluate the effects of recovering nesting avifauna, following fox removal, on breeding habitat. 3. Determine if fertilization on selected island is feasible and desirable to enhance cover. 4. Evaluate the impacts of bald eagle predation on goose survival and reproductive success on selected Aleutian islands targeted for reintroductions. 5. Evaluate the impacts of introduced rats and ground squirrels on nesting success. 6. Determine more precisely, the migration routes and wintering areas for the different breeding segments of Aleutian geese. 7. Survey for and map new use areas; record seasonal timing and type of use; document incidence and types of mortality, disturbance, and depredation; monitor quality of habitat. 8. Develop a demographic database and retrieval system for breeding and wintering populations of Aleutian geese that allow recovery of data for analyzing habitat use, demographic patterns and changes, and social relationships. 9. Develop a population model using productivity and survival data to assist in predicting the long-term survival of the Aleutian Canada goose.

Global Protection: Many to very many (13 to >40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: All known breeding locations are protected within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991). Restoration of the Aleutian Canada goose is one of the main refuge priorities. In Oregon, some major areas used by wintering Aleutian geese (mostly those that breed in the Semidi Islands) are in private ownership. The recently established Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge near Pacific City includes managed pastures, riparian wetlands, and bogs that are important areas used by the Semidi geese. Haystack Rock, an important offshore roost, is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Additionally, an important migration staging area used by geese from the western Aleutian breeding segment, near New River, Oregon, is owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Other migration stops along the coast are in both private and public ownership. BLM, in cooperation with the Nature Conservancy, is currently working to acquire some of these areas for protection.

In northwest California, spring and fall staging areas in Del Norte County near Crescent City are protected in the state Lake Earl Wildlife Area and other public lands, as well as offshore Castle Rock NWR. In Humboldt County near Arcata, the Humboldt Bay NWR protects estuarine and adjacent meadows used by Aleutian geese. Aleutian goose habitat in California's Central Valley is protected in numerous state and federal wildlife areas in the Sacramento Valley. Primary wintering areas are protected within the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge and the nearby Faith-Mapes Ranch, private lands that have been managed for Aleutian geese for many years. Additional habitat is protected under perpetual conservation easements on private lands.

Additional protection is provided by closure of hunting of Canada Geese in areas used by the Aleutian geese. In 1973 all Canada goose hunting was closed in Alaska west of Unimak Pass. In California, three strategic wintering areas were closed to hunting in 1975. Similar hunting closures were implemented along the Oregon coast in 1982. Aleutian goose seasons were closed throughout the coastal states from Alaska to California in 1984 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991). In response to the population increase and delisting, statewide closures were removed in 2001, but major breeding and wintering areas remained closed (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001b).

Needs: Continued protection is needed for the geese from losses due to illegal hunting, disease, and contamination (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991). Where needed, hunting should remain closed within the Aleutian canada geese range and for certain traditional winter use areas common to all subspecies of Canada geese to prevent shooting losses of Aleutian geese due to mistaken identification. To protect geese from losses due to disease (primarily avian cholera) roost sites need to be secured and managed to encourage dispersement of geese to prevent concentrations at areas where disease outbreaks of contamination commonly occur. Additionally, it is important that the Aleutian Canada Goose Disease and contamination Hazard Contingency Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991) be updated annually to reflect new information and agency or personnel changes.