State wildlife biologists want to study, among other questions, whether hunters are killing urban or rural geese.

As part of the study, state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists and volunteers hope to capture and mark up to 500 Canada geese in six Eastern Washington locations. The work, expected to conclude July 10, will allow a comparison of reproduction, migration and hunter-harvest of urban and rural-dwelling birds.

The geese will be captured at Sprague Lake, Potholes Reservoir and Lake Roosevelt near Kettle Falls, as well as locations in the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Spokane, said a department news release.

After the age and sex of each captured goose is recorded, they will be marked with numbered aluminum leg bands and adult geese will receive white neck collars with number and letter codes.

Waterfowl hunters can report the leg bands when geese are harvested, and the highly visible collars can be reported by any observer, state waterfowl specialist Mikal Moore said in the release.

Recapturing the marked geese at the same locations over the next five years will provide wildlife managers with information on annual survival, a critical measure of population stability, the release said.

“Other recent research suggests a need to examine harvest rates on small Canada goose subspecies, the lesser and Taverner’s,” Moore said in the release. “This study will allow us to compare harvest rates between local and migratory geese, and harvest rates on various Canada goose subspecies. We haven’t examined locally breeding Canada geese in Eastern Washington for at least 15 years, and we’ve never looked at the urban goose population as a whole.”

Last year, Moore worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, marking geese in the Spokane urban area to begin to learn if the birds are year-round residents or migratory.

Urban goose numbers can rise dramatically when the birds do not migrate or are not exposed to predators, hunting and other factors that normally limit populations. If geese are year-round residents, Moore explained in the release, they may become nuisance problems.

Part of the five-year study is an extension of the effort to determine if urban birds migrate, Moore said. It will also shed light on spring production and hunter harvest, all which can guide wildlife management decisions and hunting regulations.

To make a report

Reports of band or collar codes, along with locations and dates, should be made to U.S. Geological Services Bird Banding Laboratory at 1-800-327-2263 or online at www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/homepage/call800.htm.