approximately 1,000 was seen regularly in farm fields near 
Benedict, Maryland, not far from the Patuxent River. The use of 
fields for feeding areas occurred in the Bay area (Munro 1980) 
at the same time that SAV beds in the Bay were disappearing. 
Stewart (1962) did not mention field feeding by swans. The 
swans adapted to an alternate feeding pattern which appears to 
be to their advantage. 
The Chesapeake Bay historically has been the most important 
wintering area for tundra swans in North America, and in the 
early years of the survey population trends in the Chesapeake 
Bay, Atlantic Flyway, and North America were similar. During 
the 1970s and 1980s, however, an increasing number of tundra 
swans have been recorded in North Carolina. During this period 
more than half of the Atlantic Flyway population was recorded in 
North Carolina. This change in distribution was most likely due 
to increased number of agricultural areas in North Carolina and 
overall less human disturbances in these feeding areas. Agri¬ 
cultural fields in North Carolina tend to be larger than in 
other areas, which also may favor the large swans during take 
off. The increased population and purported damage to agricul¬ 
tural areas by the swans were two reasons for establishing 
special hunting regulations for tundra swans in North Carolina 
during the 1984-85 and 1985-86 hunting seasons. 
Canada Geese 
Canada geese (Branta canadensis) populations in the Chesa¬ 
peake Bay area have undergone phenomenal changes during the 39 
years of winter surveys (Table 1; Fig. 2). As was the case with 
tundra swans, lowest numbers occurred at the beginning of the 
survey in 1948 (62,130). This population steadily increased and 
peaked in 1981 (701,470). The long-term average was 382,760. 
The average during the 1980s was 590,335 geese which was 75% 
higher than the pre-1980s average (337,352). Overall, popula¬ 
tion trends in the Chesapeake Bay during the 39 year-period were 
not similar to trends in the Atlantic Flyway and North America. 
Populations south of the Chesapeake Bay (mainly North Carolina) 
declined during this period, whereas continental trends have 
been variable. 
This dramatic increase in Canada goose populations appears 
to be directly related to their ability to capitalize on 
abundant food in the agricultural areas of the Eastern Shore. 
Waste corn available to geese after harvesting provided the 
necessary high energy food for geese at the same time their 
traditional foods of emergent and submergent plants were de¬ 
clining throughout the Bay. Goose populations continued to 
increase during the 1970s-80s despite liberal hunting regula¬ 
tions for this species. By feeding on high energy food, geese 
were able to feed less frequently and were therefore exposed to 
147 
