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A Second Wild Breeding Population of the Aleutian Canada Goose

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A Second Wild Breeding Population of the Aleutian Canada Goose ENDANGERED BIRDS A second wild breeding population of the Aleutian Canada Goose Discoveryof anotherrelict breedingpopulation of this endangeredrace increaseshopes for recovery Edgar P. Bailey and John L. Trapp HEMYSTICAL, FOG-SHROUDED Aleutian group,located about 1600 km southwest ruggedslopes, mainly a seriesof knife- Islands have lured adventurers and of Anchorage.On June 12, we spotted edgedridges capped by numerouspinna- naturalists to their shores since the initial three geeseflying about 1 km off the cles, terminategenerally in rocky cliffs explorationof Vitus Bering and George southend of Amukta Island (52ø30'N, at or near the shore. The island is Stellerin 1741. Wetmore(1936, 1937), a 171ø16'W) and 12 birds were observed roughlycircular, having a maximum memberof oneof theearliest ornithologi- flyingin the samearea on the following ameterof about3.2 km and a planarsur- cal expeditionsto the islands in 1911, day. Althoughwe couldn'tconfirm that face area of about 842 hectares.Except was the first to make the generalpublic theywere Aleutians, the presenceof any for itssmaller size and steeper, more rug- aware of the immense seabird colonies othersubspecies this far westwas highly ged terrain,Chagulak is topographically and their unique inhabitants. Another unlikely.The dateseemed late for spring very similarto Buldir Island. Plantcom- unique,though much less conspicuous, migration.Might these birds be breeding munitiesalso appearto be similar. Like member of the Aleutian Islands avifauna on Amukta? We are not aware of any Buldir (Byrd 1984), Chagulak's sea is the Aleutian Canada Goose (Branta previoussightings of CanadaGeese at slopesare coveredby tall plants,includ- canadensisleucopareia). This subspe- Amutka. ing a grass-umbellifercommunity com- cies, first recognizedby Brandtin 1836 We circumnavigatedAmukta, an ac- posed mainly of Beach Rye (Elymus (Marquardtand Pribil 1962) and accept- tivevolcano, by inflatableboat, landed at arenarius)and several umbellifers, and ed as a distinctrace by Delacour(1954), threelocations, and hiked acrossmost of upperplateaus covered by dwarf Arctic •swell adaptedfor survivingin the harsh, the southernportion of the island. We Willow (Salix arctica), moss, and other maritime climate of the Aleutians. How- foundArctic Foxes,but no signof geese. low plants. ever, like most other insularbirds it is ill We then set our compassfor Chagulak Our first landingwas on the west side equippedfor coping with mammalian Island, 6 km to the northeastof Amukta, on June14. During our brief stayashore predatorsintroduced by man. and barely visible in the gloomy over- we failed to note Aleutian Canada Geese Introductionsof Arctic Foxes (Alopex cast. or their signamong the swarmingmyr- lagopus)and Red Foxes (Vulpesfulva) According to government records, iads of Northern Fulmars, Glaucous- tbr fur farmingenterprises, which began ChagulakIsland was leasedin 1916 for winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens), about 1836 and reacheda peak in the fur farming.However, we knew that the Black-leggedKittiwakes (Rissa trtdac- early 1900s,resulted in widespreadextir- islandsupports a minimum of 600,000 tyla), murres(Uria spp.), auklets(Aethta pationof breedinggeese in the Aleutian breedingseabirds, including one of the spp.), andpuffins (Fratercula spp.) The Islandsby the late 1930s(Jones and Byrd world'slargest colonies of NorthernFul- next day we exploredan extensivearea 1979). The only known breedingsite in mars (Fulmarusglacialis) (Sowls et al. on the northeast side from sea level to recentyears has been Buldir Island, lo- 1978)--good circumstantial evidence 310 m elevationbut againfound no signs cated near the western end of the archi- that foxes, if introducedat all, had never of geese.Our hopeswere startingto fade pelago,where foxes were not introduced become established on this island. If On the afternoonof June 15, we landed (Jones 1963, Byrd and Woolington Aleutian Canada Geese were breeding on thesouth side and cautiously made our 1983). anywherein the Islandsof Four Moun- wayup a steep,vegetated slope. Here we tains,Chagulak was the likely place.We encounteredfresh goose droppings at GOOSE SIGHTINGS thereforeproceeded to Chagulak with about 155 m elevation. Droppingsbe- greatanticipation. came more abundant at 215 m and we duringHILECONDUCTING June andSEABIRD July 1982surveys we Chagulak Island (52ø34'N, 171ø08'W) foundevidence of extensivegrazing on s•ghtedAleutian CanadaGeese at two lo- is a rugged volcanic island that rises FescueGrass (Festuca rubra), Spring calities in the Islands of Four Mountains steeplyto anelevation of 1154meters. Its Beauty(Claytonia sibirica), and sedges 284 AmericanBirds, May-June 1984 (Carex sp.). Suddenly,we heardCanada slopeand had a northeastaspect. The ley andothers circumnavigated the island Geesecalling somewherein the dense plantcommunity was similar to the Blue- in clear weatherand saw no geese. fog As we stoodthere in suspense,two joint-umbelliferfavored for nestingat None of the 87 or more geesespotted adult CanadaGeese emergedfrom the Buldir (Byrd and Woolington 1983). at Chagulakand Amukta islandsin 1982 fog and landednearby. Rapidlydeteriorating weather precluded had plasticneck collarsor tarsal bands Both birds had a broadring of white any searchingfor nestsor young else- Therefore,the birds were not likely to leathering at the base of their necks, where on the .island. have been pioneeringindividuals from whichis a usefulfeature for distinguish- On May 17, 1983, Bailey and three the expandingBuldir Island population, lng Aleutian Canada Geese from other otherbiologists returned to Amutka Is- or to have originatedfrom the hundreds subspecies(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- landto eradicatefoxes. Our hopeis that of captive-rearedgeese released in the vice 1982). Althoughthey behavedas if geeseon nearby Chagulakwill begin westernAleutians during the pastdecade theywere on territory,we were unableto nestingon Amutkafollowing the remov- (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1982) locate a nest or brood. al of foxes.During the five weeksBailey We postulatethat the birds breedingon On June 16, 62 adult birds in a loose spenton Amutka he saw geeseflying ChagulakIsland represent a relicitpopu- flock were feeding and loafing at about around the island on several occasions. lation of Aleutian Canada Geese that has 3 I0 m elevationin an uplandtundra asso- On June13, he travelledto Chagulakand been overlooked because of the extreme- ciation(similar to flock feeding areasat remainedon the islandfor five days.He ly precipitousterrain of this remote Buldir--Byrd and Woolington 1983, saw approximately30 geese on the is- land. The sighting of a color-banded Trapppers. obs.) on the southwestside land, fewer than in 1982. In 1983, he gooseat Chagulakin 1983 suggeststhat of the island. Flockingbehavior at this managedto climb the southeastann of birdsfrom that populationmay winter in time of year suggestedmost of the birds theisland for the first time; two evidently the same area in California as birds from were non-breeders.Fog, wind, and rain territorialpairs were encounteredin this Buldir Island. preventedfurther observation of geeseat ruggedarea. The mostsignificant obser- Basedon little more than subjective that time. vationin 1983 wasthe sightingof three impressions,we estimatethat Chagulak We did not return to Chagulak until bandedgeese, including one with a red supportsless than 50 nestingpairs of July 10, whenfair weatheragain allowed plasticband on its righttarsus. Red tarsal AleutianCanada Geese. In arrivingat the usto land. Althoughwe knew that Aleu- bandshave been used only on Aleutian abovefigures we assumedthat V4to IA of tian Canada Geese were present, we CanadaGeese trapped on theirwintering the island is suitablefor nestinggeese wanted to confirm our suspicionsthat groundsin northern California. and that densities were similar to those theynested there. We wentashore on the recorded at Buldir Island in the midø northside of the islandand proceededup DISCUSSION 1970s(Byrd andWoolington 1983). The a steep,grassy slope. At an elevationof total population of Aleutian Canada about 280 m we observed four adult birds Geeseon the islandcould be as many as sitting in a rocky slide area. The birds C historicalHAGULAKISLAND breedingLIESwell range within of the 200 birds. were separatedin groupsof two, as if AleutianCanada Goose, and presumably Of the manystrategies implemented In paired,but gaveno indicationof defend- foxes were never released on it. That the an effort to restore Aleutian Canada lng a territory. A fifth adult was seen presenceof this populationwent unno- Geeseto a non-endangeredstatus (Byrd sitting several hundred meters further ticed for so many years is easily ex- andSpringer 1976, Springeret al. 1978, down the slide and behaved like a male plained,for theforbidding topography of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1982), guardinga nest. the islandand prevailing weather condi- the most successful to date has been hunt- Shortlythereafter, at the sameeleva- tions are enoughto discouragemost ing closuresimposed on the wintering tion •n a boulder-strewn area with Blue- thoughtsof exploration.Just getting on groundsin Californiaand Oregon. As a joint (Calamagrostis canadensis) and the island is a difficult chore that can be resultof theseclosures the populationhas Beach Rye, we encountereda pair of accomplishedon only a few days each increasedmore than fourfold, from about adultsthat behavedas if they had a nest year. 790 birds in 1975 to 3500 birds in 1982 with eggsor a brood
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