Crops and Forage Utilized . Crop types utilized by geese in winter were, 

 in decreasing order of use, corn cut for silage, barley stubble, seeded 

 winter wheat, and alfalfa and hay (table 2). Most of these fields were 

 located on the flood plain, reflecting the tendency of geese to feed in 

 fields close to the river. Seeded winter wheat fields, most of which occur 

 on the benches away from the river, were used only when snow cover was light. 



TABLE 2. Canada goose utilization of selected field types over all study sections 



during four periods, 1975 and 1976. 



Field Type 



Spring Migration 



and 

 Breeding Period 3 



Post-Harvest 

 Harvesting to Late 



Periodic Fall Period 



cd 



Winter 

 Period e 



Overall 



Annual 



Utilization 



Barley stubble 

 Wheat stubble 

 Seeded winter 



wheat 

 Corn cut for 



silage 

 Picked corn 

 Alfalfa and hay 

 Pastures and 



feed lots 

 Pinto beans 

 Sugar beets 



56.4(12,993) 

 9.7( 2,243) 



tr f (11) 



22. 5( 5,189) 

 5.2( 1,196) 

 5.9( 1.367) 



0.3 (57) 



42.1(1,467) 

 57.6(2,005) 



0.3 (10) 



7.4(603) 

 8.5(688) 



3.6(295) 



80.3(6,521) 



0.2(15) 



23.5(5,493) 35.4(20,556) 



8.2(1,925) 11. 8( 6,861) 



14.4(3,357) 6.3( 3,663) 



27.6(6,449) 31.3(18,169) 



9.3(2,162) 5.8( 3,358) 



14.1(3,282) 8.0( 4,649) 



2.6 (609) 

 0.3 (60) 



1.2 (666) 

 0.1 (60) 

 trf (15) 



NOTE: Entries are given first as percentage of observations per period and 

 second, in parentheses, total number of observations in that field type that period. 



a March 1 through May 31 



bjuly 15 through corn harvest (date depending on the year) 



c Because field feeding patterns and crop harvesting periods differ in duration 

 from goose migration and life-history periods, the periods used in this table do not 

 correspond exactly with those used in all other phases of this Canada goose study. 



^Post-corn harvest through first cold weather and influx of northern migrants 



e Northern migrant arrival through winter 



Tr = less than 0.1 percent 



Movement . Geese loafing on the river during winter commonly rested on the 

 ice shelf near the water's edge. When in the fields, where they rested as 

 well as fed, they remained there much of the day. During periods of warmer 

 weather, geese showed more movement, as was apparent in February 1976 when river 

 ice was restricted largely to borders of islands and banks upstream from Miles City. 



20 



