KUBUCK AND AHKLUN MOUNTAIN BIRDS 



27 



Emperor goose (Chen canagicus). Aspm, VRsr, Aftn (18 April- 

 8 October). 



Emperor geese were abundant migrants along the coast and molted 

 and nested in the area. We found emperor geese at Goodnews Bay, 

 Chagvan Bay, Nanvak Bay, and Cape Peirce during spring and fall migra- 

 tion (Table 3). In spring 1973, geese began migrating past Nanvak Bay by 

 28 April, peaked on 14 May, and continued to 6 June. One hundred flocks 

 averaged 17.1 ±1.5 birds per flock (range, 2-70). In 1976, spring 

 migration began on 2 May, peaked on l6 May, and continued to 9 June. 

 J. G. King (unpublished) reported 60,000 birds in Nanvak and Chagvan 

 bays during spring migration (28 May 1964), and D. I. Eisenhauer (per- 

 sonal communication) found birds at Chagvan Bay by 18 April 1973. 

 Estimates made during aerial surveys using the coastal portion of the 

 study include 11,351 in 1981 (23 April; C. P. Dau, unpublished), 7 in 1982 

 (3 May; C. P. Dau, unpublished), 2,459 in 1983 (25 April; C. P. Dau, 

 unpubUshed), 92 in 1984 (28 April; C. P. Dau, unpublished), l,06l in 

 1985 (12 May; C. P. Dau and R. J. King, unpublished), 2,326 in 1986 (4 

 May; C. P. Dau and R. J. King, unpublished), 1,152 in 1987 (1 May; R. J. 

 King and C. P.Dau, unpublished) and 1,415 in 1989 (4 May; R. J. King 

 and C. P. Dau, unpublished). 



Migrant adults began arriving at Cape Peirce and Nanvak Bay on 

 25 August 1973 and 19 August 1976, and pairs with families first appeared 

 on 25 August 1973 and 27 August 1976. Family groups were migrating 

 through Goodnews Bay area on 13-15 September 1977. At Cape Peirce 

 during fall migration in 1973, 279 families averaged 2.96 ± 0. 10 young per 

 family (range, 1-7); in 1976, 35 families there averaged 2.49 ± 122 young 

 per family (range, 1-5) and 21% of 483 birds were young. J. L. Hout 

 (personal communication) observed that 40 families averaged 3. 23 ± 0.23 

 young per family (range, 1-7) on I6-3O September 1971 at Chagvan Bay, 

 Nanvak Bay, and Cape Peirce. Nanvak and Chagvan bays are important 

 staging areas for emperor geese, particularly in fall when family groups 

 feed heavily on crowberries (Empetrum nigrum) and eelgrass. Numbers 

 of birds found during aerial surveys using the coastal portion of the study 

 area in late fall include 0 in 1979 (1 October; R. Gill, Jr., and B. Conant, 

 unpublished), 8 in 1980 (6 October; R. Gill, Jr., and R. King, unpublished), 

 25 in 1981 (4 October; R. E. Gill, Jr., unpubUshed), 0 in 1982 (6 October; 

 R. J. King and K. S. Bollinger, unpublished), 0 in 1985 (10 October; R. J. 

 King and W. D. Eldridge, unpublished), 20 in 1987 (2 October; R. J. King 

 and W. D. Eldridge, unpubUshed), 12 in 1988 and 15 in 1989 (8 and 

 7 October, respectively; R. J. King and L. Denlinger, unpubUshed). 



D. R. Herter and D. Lloyd (personal communication) found flightless 

 birds at Cape Peirce in 1981, and D. R. Herter et al. (personal communi- 

 cation) found 1, 60, and 6 emperors there on 7 and 9 June and 11 July 

 1984, respectively. We also found adults in Chagvan Bay on 20-22 July 



