M&B News
LDWF Using Technology to Investigate Changes in
Winter Distribution of White-Fronted Geese
White-fronted geese, often
called specklebellies, flock to
Louisiana during the fall and winter
and are highly-prized by goose
hunters. But despite increases in the
Midcontinent white-front population, wintering counts in Louisiana
have declined in the last two
decades, according to the mid-winter waterfowl survey conducted
every January.
Louisiana has experienced significant changes in agriculture, lasting hurricane effects, and increased
urbanization and industrialization in
historic goose habitats.
These factors as well as increasing estimates of active
waterfowl hunters to twice
that in 2005, may be contributing to a smaller proportion of Mississippi Flyway
white-fronted geese wintering
in our state. An average of 32
percent of Midcontinent
white-fronted geese now winter in Louisiana compared to
80 percent 20 years ago.
Mississippi Flyway states were
allowed the opportunity to increase
the season length or daily bag limit
for the 2015-16 hunting season because of increased populations in
the Flyway. At their August meeting, out of concern for declining
wintering populations, the Louisiana
Wildlife and Fisheries Commission
chose less than the allowed increase in season length.
They also charged the LDWF
waterfowl section with investigating
sources of the declining trend in the
number of white-fronted geese
overwintering in Louisiana in order
to inform future management and
hunting regulation decisions.
The initial research involves capturing, banding, and fitting whitefronted geese with transmitters to
track their movements and habitat
use. With funding donated by private individuals and organizations,
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January 2016 www.marshandbayou.com
11 individual transmitters were acquired to place on white-fronted
geese. Paul Link, LDWF’s North
American Waterfowl Management
Plan Coordinator, assumed project
leadership because of his extraordinary waterfowl trapping skills and
expertise in wildlife telemetry. Wintering white-fronts have proven difficult to catch in meaningful
numbers.
“Having access to high quality
habitats for trapping efforts was critical to this research,” Link said. “We
are very thankful for the access
granted by private landowners and
staff at the Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex.”
Link and his student workers
caught 79 white-fronts during October and November. All were legbanded and 11 adults were fitted
with the transmitter units.
Recent technology allows unprecedented insight into bird movements and behaviors. Up to 48 GPS
locations per day are being collected on each bird fitted with a
transmitter. “These 11 white-fronts
are the first wild birds to carry this
technology, which is exciting,” Link
said.
Transmitters are expected to
last three to four years, which will
help identify habitats used, local
and long-range movements, fidelity
among wintering and breeding
areas, as well as spring and fall migratory routes and stopovers.
A primary research focus is identifying habitat use and movements in
and out of Louisiana. Six white-fronts
were captured and fitted with transmitter units on Oct. 18 in southwest
Louisiana and were still there on Nov.
7, opening day of the coastal zone
waterfowl season. Within three days,
five of those six birds left the coastal
zone during a time of stable weather.
It is too early to say whether it was
simply the onset of hunting season,
food depletion, improving habitat
conditions elsewhere, or a combination of these and other factors.
Five additional white-fronts
were fitted with transmitter units
during the first split of the waterfowl season. As of today, six of
the fitted geese are in Arkansas,
four remain in Louisiana, and
one is in Texas.
“It would be great to have
more transmitters to deploy this
winter to get more data on local
habitat use and see if whitefronts continue to move out of
southwest Louisiana,” Link said.
“They are moving around much
more than we suspected, and
are successfully avoiding harvest and
predation.”
LDWF has committed to deploying additional transmitters next fall as
well. For more information and for
anyone interested in making a tax-deductible donation to purchase transmitters, contact Paul Link at
225-765-2358 or [email protected].
Hunters who harvest one of the
geese with a transmitter are asked to
contact Link and turn it in so that the
unit can be redeployed on another
goose. LDWF will exchange a replica
non-working transmitter as a keepsake for the hunter.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources. For more
information, visit us atwww.wlf.la.gov
or www.FishLA.org.
Independence
Island Artificial
Reef Expansion
Completed in
Barataria Bay
Enhancement of the Independence Island artificial reef site north of
Grand Terre in Barataria Bay was
completed early this week. This
newest enhancement is ano ѡ