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Nesting Surveys | Census Data

Canada Goose Surveys

Canada goose, Branta canadensis moffitti, nesting surveys began in the 1950's to document the reproductive performance of the goose population and determine whether nesting performance would be impacted by nuclear reactor operations. Continuous documentation of nesting performance also provides a way to evaluate the effects of potential legacy contamination from reactor operations, effects of upstream industrial uses of Columbia River water, changes introduced by hydroelectric dams, and increased recreational use of this region.

Twenty islands in the Hanford Reach were surveyed annually from 1954 to 1995, thereafter surveys have been conducted in alternate years. The gradual decline in the number of goose nests observed in the late 1960's and 1970's is attributed to persistent coyote predation, mostly on the Columbia River islands upstream from the Old Hanford Townsite. Since the 1970's, the majority of nesting geese have shifted from the Hanford Reach upstream islands to downstream islands near Richland, which in recent years have been relatively free from coyote predation. Canada goose populations are successful on the Hanford Reach because the islands are restricted from human uses during the nesting period and because shoreline habitats provide adequate food and cover for successful brood rearing .

Canada geese nests are concentrated on the 20 islands of the 88-km Hanford Reach. Nests are identified during walking surveys of each island in the spring. Multiple surveys are made each year to identify hatching, predation and abandonment rates. Eggs that do not hatch are broken to determine whether the egg was fertile or infertile.

*NOTE: Sample points during consecutive years are shown as connected. Successful nests: at least one egg hatched.

Additional information is available in:

  • "A Columbia River Goose Population 1950-1970" by W.C. Hanson and L.L. Eberhardt (Wildlife Monographs, No 28, December 1971),

  • "Canada Goose Nesting Performance along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, 1971-1981" by R.E. Fitzner and W.H. Rickard (Northwest Science 57:267-272, 1983), and

  • "Great Basin Canada Goose Nesting on the Mid-Columbia River, Washington: An Historical Perspective and Update, 1981-1990" by R.E. Fitzner, L.E. Eberhardt, W.H. Rickard, Jr. and R. H. Gray (Northwest Science 68:37-42).

    Dates:
        Start: 1953
        Modification: 1995 (surveys every other year)
        End: 2001