Animal
Canada goose
Branta canadensis
A large grey-brown goose with black head and neck and white chinstrap — and one of the most-conspicuous wildlife species on Staten Island, where the borough's parks, golf courses, and lawns now host year-round resident populations. The 'resident' Canada goose population is a relatively recent ecological development in the Northeast: through the early 20th century the species was strictly migratory, but introduced non-migratory subpopulations in the 1950s–1970s have since established large urban-suburban populations that no longer migrate.
Scientific
Branta canadensis is a 6–14 lb goose. Several distinct subspecies; the largest and most-common (B. c. maxima, sometimes called “giant Canada goose”) was nearly extinct by 1950 due to over-hunting. State-agency reintroduction programs in the Midwest and Northeast in the 1950s–1970s used captive-bred non-migratory stock. The resulting populations established as year-round residents and grew rapidly with abundant urban-park grass habitat and minimal predation.
Diet: grasses, sedges, agricultural crops, aquatic plants. Highly adapted to mowed-lawn habitat — short turfgrass is essentially perfect goose food.
The resident Canada goose population in the Northeast is now contentious: large flocks foul park lawns and waters with droppings, contribute nutrients that drive algae blooms in small ponds, and can be aggressive during nesting.
On Staten Island
Year-round resident populations on the borough’s parks, golf courses, ponds, lawns. Most parks with mowed turf adjacent to water hold flocks. Migratory Canada geese (still genuinely migratory subpopulations) also pass through during fall and spring.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Counterpart to: [[bioregion]]
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology eBird and species accounts
- USFWS resident-Canada-goose population management records
- [[beacon-ny|New York]] State DEC waterfowl-management records
Rooted in life.
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Scientific
counterpart to
- American black duck both are Atlantic Flyway flagship waterbirds, but black ducks are wetland-specialist while Canada geese are habitat-generalist
1 inbound link · 3 outbound