Courtesy of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission 



The WOOd dttCk Photo by Michael Halminski 



Black ducks 



States has risen steadily for the past 25 

 years. And in North Carolina, the 

 larger populations are causing wildlife 

 biologists some headaches. Dennis 

 Luczcz, migratory bird project leader 

 for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Com- 

 mission, says the heavy-bodied birds 

 trample farmer's winter crops as they 

 munch on shoots of wheat. Luczcz says 

 the commission may soon consider a 

 limited hunting season for whistling 

 swans. 



Swans share some common charac- 

 teristics with two tribes of waterfowl — 

 geese and whistling ducks. Part of the 

 same subfamily of waterfowl (An- 

 serinae), geese, swans and whistling 

 ducks display similar plummage 

 among the sexes, mate for life, and 

 molt only once. Among these water- 

 fowl, both sexes care for the young. In 

 contrast, most ducks in the tribes 

 previously mentioned (Cairinini, 

 Anatini, Aythyini, Oxyurini, Mergini), 

 molt twice a year, perform elaborate 

 courtships and mate temporarily. 

 Among these ducks, the court of 

 nature always awards the ducklings to 

 the female to hatch and rear after the 

 divorce. 



Each year from the tundra of 

 northern Canada and the Arctic 

 slopes, two species of geese return to 

 the Tar Heel state — greater snow and 

 Canada geese. The greater snow geese 

 whiten the skies along the Outer Banks 

 as some 14,000 to 15,000 birds return 



to the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge each 

 November (snow geese also winter in 

 the Currituck and Pamlico Sounds). 



During the early 1900s when greater 

 snow goose populations were estimated 

 at 3,000 worldwide, Pea Island was the 

 only wintering area for the greater 

 snow geese along the East Coast. But 

 as snow geese made their come back, 

 their wintering area spread as far 

 northward as New Jersey as their 

 numbers have climbed to over 200,000. 



The greater snow goose is an Arctic 



nester and works on a limited time 

 schedule between the lull in Arctic 

 snows during the summer. Most of the 

 geese arrive at their Arctic nesting 

 ground by June 16, Brame says. They 

 lay their eggs within 24 hours of arriv- 

 ing. But if the Arctic spring is cold and 

 snow still covers the ground, most of 

 the geese will not nest, Brame says. 

 Few goslings are added to the flock. To 

 make sure these lean years don't ad- 

 versely affect snow goose populations, 



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