Abstracts

Presented by James M. Whitaker - Email: jwhitaker@wlf.la.gov

Lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens), Rosss geese (A. rossii) (collectively, light geese), and greater white-fronted geese (A. albifrons) historically wintered in the Central Valley of California and coastal Louisiana and Texas. However, recent mid-winter waterfowl surveys in Louisiana and Texas suggest that the abundance and distribution of mid-continent geese is changing, with more geese overwintering farther north. We analyzed 63 years (1955-2018) of aerial mid-winter survey data from Central and Mississippi flyway states to investigate long-term distribution and abundance trends in light and white-fronted geese. Light goose abundance has declined in Texas and Louisiana over the last 20 years, and their distribution has shifted towards Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. On the other hand, greater white-fronted goose populations have continued to increase throughout the region, but their distribution has changed dramatically. Texas and Louisiana historically overwintered nearly 100% of white-fronted geese in their respective flyways, but in the last 10-20 years have supported less than half of the flyway populations, with major redistributions to Kansas and Arkansas. Coastal marshland loss, increased salinities, shoreline erosion, and warmer winters, coupled with anthropogenic changes (e.g., increased rice production) are likely contributing to the decline in goose abundance in Texas and Louisiana. We suggest that light and dark geese may be utilizing habitats further north in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley because of the high-energy food resources that rice and moist-soil seeds provide for migrating and wintering waterfowl.