82 Survival and dispersal in a new Barnacle Goose population
©Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
Wildfowl
(2013) 63: 72–89
Almost 30% of all surviving males probably
emigrated to a breeding colony in the large
population along the shores of the Barents
Sea in northern Russia, although there are
only two male birds for which breeding in
this population was proven by observations
made during the breeding season at both
Kolokolkova Bay and on Kolguev Island,
the only two sites where regular work on
Barnacle Geese has been carried out in
recent years. Among females, corresponding
figures are 30% and 24%, respectively.
Breeding dispersal was low; 9% of both
males and females bred during subsequent
years at sites > 10 km from their ringing
site, and 3% of males and 4% of females
Table 4.
Summer counts of Barnacle Geese in the two study areas in the Netherlands (the
Delta area and Fryslân), and the proportion of geese removed by hunting based on: (1) annual
hunting bag data, and (2) reports of shot ringed birds, with an average reporting rate of
17.4%
per annum
(see text for details of the calculations).
Year
Bag
Numbers
Hunting
Number
Hunting
number
counted* mortality (1)
reported mortality (2)
Delta
2004
0
0.000
0
0.000
2005
0
0.000
1
0.019
2006
679
13,172
0.052
3
0.045
2007
1,718
14,995
0.115
5
0.080
2008
2,531
11,683
0.217
8
0.113
2009
3,801
15,672
0.243
2
0.020
2010
5,255
16,107
0.326
12
0.146
2011
5,852
25,414
0.230
15
0.198
2012
–
23,975
–
20
0.383
Fryslân
2009
0
1,000**
0.000
0
–
2010
31
1,000**
0.031
0
–
2011
108
1,000**
0.108
0
–
*Based on annual summer counts of Barnacle Geese in the northern part of the Delta area,
where the majority of the Dutch Barnacle Goose population breeds, on the island of Goeree-
Overflakke, and in the regions Voorne, Putten and Hoekse Waard, conducted by Sovon and
CLM (see text).
**Only a rough estimate is available for the numbers in Fryslân in July.
