sites have been described by others (Geis 1956; MacInnes 
1962; Hanson and Eberhardt 1971: Mickelson 1975; and 
Bromley 1976). 
Non-breeding Adults 
At Buldir, flocks of 3 to 40 geese were dispersed over the 
island, including the breeding areas, during the summer. 
Marked yearlings and 2-year-olds were included, 
One to four geese were observed within several territories 
of breeding pairs at Buldir. Some groups were tolerated by 
territorial males but other groups were chased away. Too 
few observations of marked birds were made to definitely 
demonstrate that groups tolerated in a particular territory 
were previous years’ young of that breeding pair, but we 
suspected that was true. Elsewhere, family bonds were 
usually broken when pairs began active sexual behavior in 
spring (Hanson and Smith 1950; Balham 1954; Collias and 
Jahn 1959; MacInnes 1966; Sherwood 1967; Hanson and 
Eberhardt 1971). Parental intolerance of young usually 
begins before establishment of nest territories (Collias and 
Jahn 1959; Hanson and Eberhardt 1971). In some popula- 
tions most yearlings are excluded from families before adults 
arrive on the breeding grounds (MacInnes 1966), but in 
others family breakup occurs after arrival (Sherwood 1967). 
Yearlings and other non-breeders combine in flocks which 
usually leave the nesting areas, but in some areas a few may 
remain (Martin 1964; Sherwood 1967; Hanson and Eber- 
hardt 1971). 
Wing Molt 
The timing of the wing molt appeared similar in 1974 
and 1976, but was slightly later in 1975 (Table 1). Non- 
breeders were the first to molt, Few flying geese were seen 
during the last week of July and the first 2 weeks of August, 
but most adults and young were flying by 22-25 August. 
The age at which captive reared goslings attained flight was 
55 days (F. B. Lee, personal communication), and proba- 
bly a similar time is required for wild geese at Buldir. The 
timing of the molt was similar to that recorded for other 
populations of Canada geese nesting in Alaska (Mickelson 
1975; Bromley 1976). 
Table 1. Timing of the wing molt of adult Aleutian Canada 
_ geese at Buldir Island, Alaska, 1974-76. 




Event 1974 1975 1976 
First flightless birds 18 July 23 July 19 July 
Last flying geese before 
the molt 24 July 30 July 23 July 
First flying geese after 
the molt 18 August 17 August 13 August 
Most adults and goslings 
flying 22 August 25 August 22 August 

“Fog obscured the area in mid August, so birds were probably 
flying earlier than the date recorded. 
bSubjective estimate. 
During the wing molt one to three flightless non-breeders 
(females lacking bare or refeathered brood patches) were 
frequently found with goslings after a pair of adults, pre- 
sumably the parents, flushed. Also, isolated groups of two 
to three flightless non-breeders or failed breeders were 
found. These observations demonstrate that at least a por- 
tion of the non-breeding population of Aleutian Canada 
geese molted at Buldir. 
It is possible that some non-breeding Aleutian Canada 
geese molted at areas other than Buldir on the basis of the 
following observations: five geese 10 km west of Buldir 
flying westerly on 26 July 1975 (CG. A. Putney, personal 
communication), up to 14 geese at Amchitka Island in mid 
to late June 1977 (F. B. Lee and R. P. Schulmeister, per- 
sonal communication), and four birds in late June and three 
in early July 1961 at Amchitka (R. D. Jones, personal com- 
munication). It is possible that these were wandering sub- 
adults that might have returned to Buldir to molt. If these 
geese became flightless on most of the islands in the 
Aleutians, they would have been vulnerable to predation 
by arctic foxes. In other populations of Canada geese, at 
least some of the non-breeders migrate to distant molting 
grounds (Kuyt 1962; Martin 1964; Hanson 1965; MacInnes 
1966; Sherwood 1967; Hanson and Eberhardt 1971; Krohn 
and Bizeau 1979). 
Departure of Geese from Buldir 
Geese began leaving Buldir during the first week of Sep- 
tember in 1976. By 22 September the population was down 
from an estimated pre-migration total of 1,200-1,400 birds 
to about 500 geese, By 26 September fewer than 250 geese 
remained, and when field work terminated on 29 Septem- 
ber, fewer than 100 were present. The timing of departure 
from Buldir in 1976 seemed to be similar to other years on 
the basis of the few records available (Table 2). 
Habitat Use 
Availability of Nest Sites 
During the middle 2 weeks of May, when most females 
selected nest sites, the Upland Short-plant association was 
mostly snow-covered and thus unavailable for nesting. The 
amount of snow remaining in the Lowland Tall-plant asso- 
ciation varied among years. In 1974 the lowland was mostly 
snow-free during nest site selection, although drifts persisted 
on north-facing slopes and in shaded gullies or creek banks. 
About 50% of the lowland was still snow-covered in mid 
May 1975 and 1976. The percentage of the area that was 
snow-free increased proportionally with lower elevation, 
reaching 100% at sea level. 
In snow-free areas buttercup (Ranunculus occidentalis), 
red fescue (Festuca rubra), and black lily (Fritillaria 
camschatcensis) were the only green plants present during 
nest site selection. Dried stalks of cow parsnip and wild 
celery, and hummocks of dried beach rye offered the only 
