Saving wetlands for wildlife & people
Saving wetlands for wildlife & people
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Status summary The first winter census of this population covering all known sites in Britain and Ireland in 1957 estimated a total of 11,800 birds. Numbers increased steadily thereafter to 24,100 in 1973 but this trend reversed in the 1980s with declines seen in many areas. An increase in numbers followed in the 1990s and the most recent census, in March 2008, recorded a total of 70,501 geese. This long term increase may have been caused by decreases in mortality, possibly as a consequence of an increase in area and quality of available feeding grounds following a switch from traditional farming methods to intensively managed grasslands in the wintering grounds. Restrictions on hunting in Britain in 1981, and reductions in numbers shot under licence, may have also contributed to an increase in winter survival. The population has become increasingly concentrated at the key sites, particularly Islay, since 1990 with smaller numbers at peripheral sites. Breeding success is variable and has been shown to be largely due to weather conditions at the wintering grounds in early spring, at the staging grounds, and in Greenland on arrival at the breeding sites. The majority of age assessments are made on Islay and show the proportion of young to have varied between 2.6 and 22.4% since 1965. In the past ten years it has varied between 6.1% and 16.1%, averaging 9.3% (± 1.2 se).
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Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
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