Local DNR geese banding operation a success

By Caroline Rosacker

Wisconsin and Iowa Department of Natural Resource (DNR) staff members and volunteers gathered in Guttenberg in late June to band our community's local geese population. 

Brenda Kelly, Mississippi River Wildlife Biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Kevin Hanson, Iowa DNR Fisheries Management Biologist, Guttenberg, led the early morning crew. Under their leadership the group came up with a strategy to safely and respectively corral the local geese population on the Mississippi River. 

Why band geese?

Although people have been banding birds for centuries in Europe, the first large-scale North American banding program was established in 1922. 

One of the earliest goals of waterfowl banding research was to assist in discovering the four major waterfowl flyways that span North America. Band recoveries can also indicate to biologists how the waterfowl harvest is distributed, and can be used to estimate age, sex and species-specific survival and harvest rates. These statistics help waterfowl managers set hunting seasons and bag limits each year to help support healthy waterfowl populations. Leg bands are made of aluminum and vary in size according to waterfowl species. Each band is marked with a unique eight or nine-digit number, with the last number of the prefix indicating the band size.

Banding geese takes place every year during the last ten days of June while the birds are in or around their molt phase, which diminishes their capacity to escape. The group has  a target quota of 600 geese banded on the Mississippi River, and along the Wisconsin border of the Mississippi. 

"River levels are critical to goose reproductive success," noted Hanson.  "Spring floods often drown early nest attempts. This year’s lack of snow and spring flood meant better nest success, but drove families to higher shorelines for resources to feed growing youngsters."

How good is the gander for the goose? The old expression has new meaning in banding geese as efforts to round up the flock often come down to outwitting the lead male or gander in the group.

Guttenberg banding operation

Using radio communication Kelly coordinated the ground and water retrieval. The Guttenberg fisheries team had been monitoring geese locations throughout early June in order to establish  location and behavior patterns. It was advised to send out a small group of kayakers on Bussey Lake to slowly round up the geese and encourage them to swim to the shoreline, while the ground crew patiently waited hidden on the west side of the north flood wall. Once the geese were on shore, the ground crew, crouched behind sections of lightweight PVC camouflage gates, carefully made their way down the flood wall rocks and quietly encircled the waterfowl under a shade tree. 

The geese were given time to calm down in the shaded area before being separated into smaller groups for banding. 

Experienced banders, seated on lawn chairs and on the ground, lined up and were handed geese one-at-a-time to determine the sex of each waterfowl and carefully, and accurately, place a metal band on their right leg. 

"It is critical the bands are applied correctly so they don't cause irritation, as they remain on the geese throughout their lives," noted Kelly. 

Personal experience

I was grateful for the opportunity to assist other volunteers and DNR staff members transport the geese to and from the holding area. It was important to keep the geese as calm as possible. We were directed to hold the waterfowl's legs with one hand and gently cradle the body under one arm like a football. I found the technique to be very calming and effective. It was also mentioned that placing the bird’s head under its wing could also pacify nervousness.

Once the geese were banded they were kept in a holding area until they were ready to be released back into the water. Approximately 125 geese were successfully banded that day, providing important information that will help wildlife biologist in the future.