NORTHWEST WILDFOWL

Featured Species - Brant Geese


Atlantic or Light Bellied Brant (photo by Frank Todd)	Pacific or Black Bellied Brant (photo by Paul Dye)

I have selected Brant to be the first featured species for our Internet web page as they have clearly become my favorite. Even after almost 20 years of working with them, both in captivity and in the wild, I'm still learning more about their habits and needs, and have been repeatedly amazed by the uniquness that permits them to fill their place in the world of migratory waterfowl.

In the Wild

Alternatively stringing out in long undulating lines skimming the wavetops, and balling up into dense flocks determined to reach some preprogrammed destination as rapidly as possible, migrating Brant visit the coastal bays of both North America and Eurasia. Their goal to escape the harsh winter weather of their natal arctic tundra, and to obtain enough sustenance to allow them to return north again in breeding condition come early spring. They are a sight wonderful to behold, restlessly calling, squabbling, and moving about, then resting peacefully in sometimes large flocks on some quiet, sheltered bay, or on an exposed gravel bar, frequently near the mouth of a river and revealed by low tide. There have been reports of some spectaculer migrations, such as the Pacific Black Brant that reach the Baja Peninsula in Mexico just 60 hours after leaving a staging area at Izembeck Bay in southwest Alaska. Another is the migration of Light Bellied Brant all the way to Ireland's many lochs from Bathurst and other Islands in Canada's Northwest Territories. Just one island away from Bathurst, on Mellville Island, both Light Bellied and Black Brant go the opposite way to winter on Padilla and Samish Bays in Washington's Puget Sound.

Eelgrass is the most sought after food, however it has dissapeared or been greatly reduced in some areas due to pollution and other environmental changes. In some of these areas Brant have dissapeared, while in others they have adapted to an alternative diet such as sea lettuce, sea cabbage, saltmarsh grass and the lawn grass of coastal roadways, gardens, and golf courses. This adaptation is most apparent along the coast of the state of New Jersey, and in Maryland and Virginia, in the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay.

Spring thaw brings the Brant back north to their natal nesting areas, where serious territorial defense and nesting begins. Most nesting occurs in low lying tundra wetland areas near the seacoast in dense colonies, however on Mellville Island, in the Northwest Territories, my companions and I found isolated nests on mountain sides many miles from any coast. For many years it was believed that Brant could only nest after attaining an age of 3 years, however in captivity the odd exception has been found to nest at the age of two. Brant egg clutches of from two to five eggs are common, with an occasional nest containing only one, or up to six eggs. Fertility in the wild does not appear to be a problem like it can be in captivity, possibly due to the sudden change in photoperiod as they migrate north and the intense competition by males for nesting territories.

As soon as possible young Brant are led by both parents to the nearest body of water for security, and then on to salt water. By mid August the young Brant have grown their wing feathers and are on the wing. By September the nesting areas are deserted as they start to stage (assemble) for their migration south.

I consider myself very lucky to have been able to participate in several expeditions to the arctic for the purpose of studying, banding, installing tracking transmitters in one case, and egg collecting of both the Dark Bellied (Pacific) and Light Bellied (Atlantic) races. These expeditions ranged from the Seward Peninsula and Collville Delta of Alaska, thru Canada's Northwest Territories to Hudson Bay. Along the way I've been fortunate to make the aquaintance of some of the U.S. and Canadian top Brant researchers, most of whom reinforced my belief that through careful captive study I could ultimately add to the available pool of knowledge about these magnificent geese. In a few cases I was able to contribute directly to Brant researchers in Wildlife Agencies, however it is still my dream to do far more, both with Brant and with other waterfowl in need of intimate, hands-on research.

Another advantage I've enjoyed is that through the International Wild Waterfowl Association (IWWA), I've been able to compare experiences with the handful of other consistantly successful Brant propogators in North America and Europe. Most of these good people are just as dedicated to the study and protection of the various Brant subspecies as I am, and have proven to be generous in sharing the benefits of their experience.

Subspecies

There are three recognized subspecies of Brant Geese, The Black (dark bellied) or Pacific Brant, the Light Bellied or Atlantic Brant and the Russian Brant. Some knowledgable people support the existance of a fourth subspecies, the Lawrence Brant, although at this point my experience has left me a bit unconvinced, and I tend to agree with those who suspect that they are simply an intergrade between the Atlantic and Pacific races. These birds have been discovered to nest on Mellville and Prince Patrick Islands in the Northwest Territories, and migrate mostly westward to the Puget Sound region of Washington State, with a few scattered further down the Pacific coast. Not too many years ago it was a surprise to find that Brant that appeared to be of the Atlantic race were being harvested by hunters on the west coast. Subsequent band returns showed these birds to have come from Melville and Prince Patrick Islands.

My doubt about the existance of a distinct Lawrence subspecies is an outgrowth of successful propogation of both darker and lighter bellied birds from Mellville Island at my facilities. The darker birds uniformly exhibit the thinner, more streamlined body shape of the Pacific race, while the lighter bellied birds are blockier like the Atlantic race. These characteristics have carried on to subsequent generations without exception. Also, with only one exception, the darker birds exhibit the wider and more complete neck ring, while the lighter birds have the narrower and less complete neck rings consistant with Atlantic Brant.

In Captivity

Although an aviculturist with just one pair of Black Brant occasionally reports breeding success, this is the exception rather than the rule. Most consistant captive breeding success of both the Black and Light Bellied Brant has been reported from facilities housing multiple breeding age pairs. When asked, I normally advise anyone contemplating serious breeding of Brant to strive for at least 4 pair of breeding age birds of the same subspecies. I base this on observations that make me believe that the security in numbers and social interactions such as territorial squabbles stimulate increased and more successful nesting. Healthy Brant, both in the wild and in captivity seem to be almost constantly on the move, calling to each other, fighting and chasing, and seem to need this sort of constant interaction in order to reproduce and avoid stress related illnesses.

One of the most important discoveries made by both Eldon Pace, another Brant breeder, and I, was that by limiting our grown Brant to feed of less than 14% protien content we reduced our losses from ameloidosis and gout. Both of these maladies seem to be at least partially contributed to by a accumulation of excess protien. This makes perfect sense when you consider the Brant's adaptation to thrive on poor quality forage, especially when in the arctic. Special care must be exercised when keeping Brant with Seaducks, such as Eiders, to assure that they have no access to the high protien seaduck feeds.

Young Brant seem to have a greater sensitivity to Coccidia than most of the other geese, especially if one tries to parent rear them. The first sign of a Coccidiosis problem is a weakness of the legs, and action must be taken to treat them with an appropriate sulfer drug right away to get them back on their feet before their muscles atrophy.

Like most geese, if kept free-range on open uncovered pastures and ponds shared by local geese, they will ultimately be exposed to gapeworm. If an infestation is suspected as indicated by caughing and sneezing, I recommend that fecals be checked. Once gapeworm is confirmed it can be easily treated by Ivermectin or Panacur per your veterinarian's recommendation.

Another problem that must be overcome if Brant are to be successfully kept and bred in an uncovered area is that of predators. Constant fear caused by predator harassment can result in stress-related losses and will most certainly deter nesting. Most ground-type predators can be easily kept at bay by the installation of an electric cattle fence wire about 18 inches from the ground and 1-2 inches outside of the peripheral fencing. Avian predators, such as Great Horned Owls, Hawks and Eagles also can present quite a challenge. The best legal way I've discovered to minimize loss due to owls is by the use of upward pointing flood lights and strobe lights. The flood lights don't stop the owls, but make it difficult for them to sneak in undetected, allowing the Brant time to take evasive action such as diving underwater or under thick cover. It's not foolproof but usually results in a reduction of losses. The only effective legal way of discouraging attacks by Hawks and Eagles of which I'm aware, besides netting over your entire goose pasture and pond, is by repeatedly frightening them away using cracker shells and/or firecrackers.

A couple of improvements I have recently incorporated into my operation seem to have resulted in increased nesting and fertility. One was the installation of isolated gravel and rock peninsulas around my ponds that taper gradually underwater. These appear to have satisfied a need for privacy and ease of copulation. The other was to isolate last year's crop of young from the breeding flock until after nesting is finished in order to minimize unnecessary interference with territorial defense.

Unfortunately, Brant continue to be a species not readily reared in captivity except by a few aviculturists. This has had the effect of limiting their availability, while access to other arctic goose species, such as Red Breasted, Ross and Emperors has been improving. I hope my efforts, and the efforts of other successful captive propagators will ultimately make these marvelous little geese more available to other avicultural and research endeavors.

An Event to Consider

If you'd like to see good numbers of Pacific Black Brant in the wild and you can be in the Vancouver Island area in B.C., Canada, in early April, check out the Brant Wildlife Festival . If you plan to be in the area for the festival and would like to visit our farm, please send me an email.

Acknowledgements

I want to take this opportunity to thank a couple of friends who have provided valuable encouragement, advice and even birds when needed. They are Eldon Pace, mentioned earlier in this article, and Frank Todd, noted researcher and author, who provides accurate and interesting information about all the world's waterfowl in his new book "Natural History of the Waterfowl". Frank also provided the photo of Light bellied Atlantic Brant included with this article.