296 Alaskan Science Conference 



and lakes provides the world's chief breeding ground for 

 Emperor and Cackling Geese. 



The Cackling Geese breed entirely in Alaska, being found 

 from the Kuskokwim River to Kotzebue Sound, with much the 

 greater percentage of the birds nesting in this delta. This state- 

 ment is equally true of the Emperor Geese. They breed from 

 Bristol Bay north to Kotzebue Sound and in small numbers 

 even to Wainwright. Yet, the mass of the known American 

 population breeds in a narrow strip along Bering Sea between 

 Nelson Island and St. Michael. This species winters mainly 

 along the base of the Alaska Peninsula and in the Aleutian 

 Islands while the Cackling Geese furnish an important con- 

 tribution to the annual waterfowl supply for Oregon, Wash- 

 ington, and California. 



White-fronted Geese are also found here in numbers, but 

 they also breed in numbers from Point Barrow to the Colville 

 Delta and in such areas as the Innoko Flats. Whistling Swans 

 breed from the north side of the Alaska Peninsula along the 

 Bering Sea and Arctic Coasts to the Canadian line, although 

 in small numbers, as far as present records indicate, from the 

 Colville River eastward. Again, the greatest Alaskan breeding 

 population is found in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. 



The White-cheeked Goose, a huge, dark "honker," nests from 

 Prince William Sound south into British Columbia, with the 

 major part of the population nesting on small lakes and inlets 

 in scattered pairs, and wintering in the salt marshes of south- 

 eastern Alaska. 



There are thriving colonies of Black Brant from Nelson 

 Island north, and others from Point Barrow east with perhaps 

 the most concentrated Alaskan breeding populations in the 

 Yukon and Colville Deltas. Back from the coast, the Yukon 

 delta furnishes suitable breeding grounds for vast numbers of 

 Pintails and Greater Scaup, and lesser numbers of Shovelers, 

 Baldpates, Green-winged Teals, and Mallards. It is not only 

 the most important breeding area in Alaska, but one of the 

 great waterfowl production units of the continent. The treat- 

 ment accorded it will decide the fate of Cackling Geese and 



