[Birdtalk] Snow Goose Feeding Cycle

[Kristin Purdy]

Jim noted that he has not observed Snow Geese wintering at Bosque Del Apache feed a second time in late afternoon/evening. But the second feeding period is a likely possibility according to information in Cornell's Birds of North America:

Often forages in large flocks (>1,000 individuals), flying or walking between roosting and feeding areas; remains in one area for a considerable amount of time feeding on underground plant parts. Feeding cycle generally diurnal and bimodal, with peaks in early morning and late evening (Palmer 1976, Davis et al. 1989); cycle may vary in areas under tidal influence (Gauthier et al. 1988) or late during spring migration (Alisauskas and Ankney 1992). 

Maybe the Bosque birds are dieting to avoid becoming foie gras. 

In addition, Betsy mentioned that she has encountered populations of Snow Geese in her birding travels that feed twice during the day.

Kris
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://secureserver.securesites.net/pipermail/birdtalk/attachments/20070313/19f09970/attachment.htm