A STUDY OF NESTING CANADA GEESE IN 

 HONEY LAKE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 1 



By Jay S. Dow 



Bureau of Game Conservation 

 Division of Fish and Game 



The Canada goose (Branta canadensis canadensis) commonly 

 referred to as the "Honker" is the only species of wild goose that 

 nests as far south as California. 



According to Moffitt it breeds commonly in northeastern Cali- 

 fornia, the normal breeding range closely paralleling the summer range 

 of the Rocky Mountain mule deer in California. It isJ£nown_to_breed 

 throughout Modoc and Lassen counties, wherever conditions are favor- 



0> <r 



Fig. 1. Goose with newly hatched brood. The background is typical of the meadow 

 land in the study area. Photograph by James D. Stokes. 



able; in parts of Siskiyou, Tehama, Shasta, Plumas, and Sierra coun- 

 ties; and regularly to the southern end of Lake Tahoe. It has been 

 reported as breeding occasionally at Mono Lake, Mono County. 



During the nesting seasons of 1939 and 1940 a study was made of 

 breeding Canada geese in Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County. The 

 study was a part of a general survey of all waterfowl breeding areas 

 in northeastern California conducted in 1939 by James D. Stokes and 



1 Submitted for publication, October, 1942. 



(3) 



