Summary Report- 18 Nov 2016 Cackling Goose Banding Project on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, 2016 BRYAN L. DANIELS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 346, Bethel, AK 99559, USA. J. MICHELE KUTER, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 346, Bethel, AK 99559, USA. ABSTRACT: Banding drives for the cackling goose have occurred on the Yukon Delta NWR since the 1980’s. In 2016, a crew of fourteen USFWS, MBM, and ANSEP personnel came together for the family group cackling goose banding effort from 19-28 July along the Kashunuk River. This time period targets flightless (molting adults, unfledged goslings) cackling geese for the purpose of marking birds via leg bands to track population trends and harvest rates. No effort was made to capture failed/non-breeders, typically conducted in early July along the Aknerkochik River. Contrary to previous years, all species of goose captured were banded in 2016 due to an impending increase of hunting pressure for the emperor goose, specifically. Five (5) capture attempts resulted in a banding total of 288 cackling geese, 25 greater white-fronted, and 3 emperor geese. Most drives averaged 35 minutes to process 25 birds; one drive yielding 215 individuals required almost 3 hours to process. No extraneous data or samples were collected or obtained for this project in 2016. (Data Submitted to BBL September 20, 2016; Report Completed October 25, 2016) Key Words: banding, branta, Cackling goose, goose, hutchinsii, minima, Yukon Delta Once classified as a subspecies of Canada goose (Branta canadensis) the cackling goose, now Branta hutchinsii, was granted full species status by the American Ornithologists' Union's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature in July 2004. Four subspecies of the cackling goose are recognized based on their distinct geographic breeding ranges (B. h. minima, B.h. tavernii, B. h. leucoparia, and B. h. hutchinsii). While the entire population of minima cackling geese breed along the coastal fringes of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska (King and Lensink 1971), they migrate south across Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest to stage in Washington and winter in the Klamath Basin in Oregon and California (Trost and Harb 1995). The cackling goose population experienced an alarming decline between 1965 and 1984, likely the result of overharvest by sport hunters in California and subsistence hunters in Alaska (Pacific Flyway Council 1999). Consequently, representatives of management agencies, conservation groups, and hunters from Alaska to California met to discuss critical problems for geese nesting in Western Alaska, and agreed upon harvest restrictions and a conservation plan. This new conservation plan resulted in a rapid increase in cackling goose population size through the late-1990s, followed by a decade of relative stability (Denlinger 2011). The Pacific Flyway Management Plan for the Cackling [Canada] Goose was implemented in 1986, revised in 1999, and is currently undergoing another revision. Other management plans have been developed including the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Goose Management Plan (USFWS 2005), and Arctic Goose Strategic Plan (AGJV 1 USFWS, YDNWR - Cackling Canada Goose Mark-resight Project on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, 2012 2008) to manage cackling geese concurrently with other goose species (greater white-fronted, emperor, and brant) which also breed on the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. Best estimates of harvest data are derived from banding data, if reporting rates can be estimated accurately (Afton and Anderson 2001). The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) has conducted banding drives for minima cackling geese (here-after cackling geese) since 1990. Between 1990 and 2011, YDNWR focused on the capture period in early July targeting failed and non-breeding cackling geese. These individuals leave the breeding sites and molt earlier than successful breeders. Banding drives targeting this group is collectively referred to as “early cackling goose banding” and take place along the Aknerkochik River. In 2011, the Refuge began conducting banding drives targeting family groups during late July, when adults are molting and goslings are old enough to endure the stress of capture but are not yet flighted. Banding drives targeting this group is referred to as “late cackler banding” or “cackler family group banding” and takes place along the Kashunuk River. In 2011, USFWS reviewed analysis procedures that have been used to estimate the fall population size of cackling geese since 1998 and recommended improvements. Based on that review, the Pacific Flyway Council adopted a new interim monitoring method and recommended that USFWS verify the population estimates derived using a mark-resight method. Accordingly, YDNWR participated in this program from 2011-2013. Since the mark-recapture program ended in 2013, YDNWR worked with the USFWS Migratory Birds Management office in Anchorage, AK to determine cackler banding needs for 2016. According to a guidance email from Julian Fischer in November 2015, banding data is the sole parameter used to estimate harvest rates for cackling geese. Sufficient banding data is needed to be able to evaluate harvest rates and distribution of harvest should cackler numbers become an issue. Otherwise, there is no harvest data for this population. The Pacific Flyway’s management plan is in the process of being revised, and there is an ongoing structured decision making process to sort out management objectives and alternatives. For the 2016 breeding season, MBM recommended to maintain the YDNWR goal of banding 500 cackling geese. Although past banding efforts collected morphological measurements, blood, feathers, and avian influenza samples, no effort was made to collect ancillary data during the 2016 cackling goose banding project. STUDY AREA Capture and marking of flightless family flocks was conducted along the Kashunuk River approximately 20 km SSE of Chevak, AK; base of operations was Old Chevak Field Station, Yukon Delta NWR. Each year, up to 8 capture sites could be utilized for banding cackling goose family groups (Figure 1, Table 1). Four capture sites were selected for 2016: North Kootuk, South Slough, East Onumtuk, and West Onumtuk (Table 2). Total capture area was approximately 11.3 km2. METHODS Family flocks of cackling geese congregate within interior portions of coastal marshes of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, which differs from non-breeding/failed breeding geese, who congregate in the sloughs and edges of marshes. Because of this, capture events were timed to take advantage of daytime high tides enabling boat access in the upper reaches of tidal sloughs and the interior portions of marshes. Outboard motorboats were 2 USFWS, YDNWR - Cackling Canada Goose Mark-resight Project on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, 2012 necessary to transport field personnel to designated locations and to act as a deterrent at sites bordered by long stretches of river. Corral traps were oriented so that geese were pushed from the interior marsh toward the capture pen located near a main slough or river (Figure 2A &2C). Trap setup: The capture pen and lead nets (collectively referred to as a ‘funnel trap’ or ‘corral trap’) were typically set up one day prior to a banding drive, to minimize disturbance and reduce the chance of localized redistribution. The open-top capture pen area was circular in shape (6 m diameter) and consisted of flexible modified rocket-net netting (1.5 m wide) with 2.5 cm mesh held up by T-shaped fiberglass poles (2.5 cm width, 2 m length) placed every 1.8 m (Figure 2B). A 1m to 2m wide entrance for the capture pen was positioned at the convergence of the two lead nets. The two lead nets consisted of a series of segments made of flexible 1.2m wide netting with 1 cm mesh held up vertically by T-shaped fiberglass poles (1 cm width, 2 m length) every 1.8 m. For ease of set-up, each segment was carefully rolled up with the poles attached when a trap is disassembled, which allowed for easy tangle-free unrolling during set up. Leads extended 400-800 m on either side of the capture pen entrance, running perpendicular to one another acting as a funnel into the capture pen; one lead always ran parallel to the river or a large slough (Figure 2A). The bottom edge of the leads and the corral trap were secured to the ground using 23 cm plastic tent stakes to prevent birds from escaping under the nets. No top cover net was required as birds are captured during their molting (adults) and near-fledgling (gosling) plumage phase and are flightless. Capture: Two boats were utilized to drop off field personnel at strategic locations along the perimeter (within the angle of the lead nets) of the capture site where they remained hidden, still, and silent until everyone was in place at their designated start point. Each member was equipped with a radio capable of ground–ground communication, which was necessary to adjust coordinated movements over long distances throughout the drive. When all personnel were in place, encircling an area of 1.6 to 4.6 km2, the capture drive was initiated by personnel standing up and walking toward the capture pen, starting with the crew members stationed farthest from the capture pen. An arced drive-line spanning the capture site was maintained with other personnel joining the drive-line as geese were pushed towards the capture pen and encouraging the birds stay within the lead lines until the drive line reached the actual leads (Figure 2A). Once the geese were inside the capture pen, the entrance was closed off with overlapped capture pen netting. A separate soft mesh holding pen (12 m in diameter, 1.5 m high with no top covering the pen) was erected from the closest lead net segments (Figure 2C).