year. Furthermore, neck-banding was 
     
     not a new method, having been used 
     
     on geese in the Mississippi Flyway. 
     
     For all these reasons, it seemed 
     
     there was a good case for adopting 
     
     neck-banding in the Atlantic Flyway 
     
     study as well. 
     
    

    
     The major drawback of the neck 
     
     band was their tendency to collect 
     
     ice — a problem that the project _ 
     
     leaders soon became aware of. Al-' 
     
     though there were no deaths from 
     
     icing reported in the first year, 
     
     in the second year 26 geese died, 
     
     and in the third year 70 drowned on 
     
     a single day in Maryland. Statist- 
     
     ics are not yet available for this 
     
     winter, but fatalities must have 
     
     been expected. Bruce Di Labio of 
     
     the Ottawa Field Naturalists, who 
     
     worked to free drowning birds in 
     
     the incident last November, specu- 
     
     lated that every neck—banded goose 
     
     would sooner or later be faced with 
     
     icing conditions. He also noted 
     
     that the dead birds were not birds 
     
     of the year, but healthy two-to— 
     
     four-year-olds of reproductive age. 
     
    

    
     So although the project lead- 
     
     ers were aware of the icing risk 
     
     from the second year, they contin— 
     
     ued to band geese to a total of 
     
     25,000. Curiously, the study has 
     
     shown that hunting pressure was the 
     
     prime cause of population decline 
     
     in the Carolinas. But there is a 
     
     grim irony in a study designed to 
     
     protect population growth, but 
     
     whose methods cause the death of 
     
     some of its subjects. 
     
    

    
     As a result of the public out— 
     
     cry that followed the incident in 
     
     the Ottawa River last fall, the 
     
     Canadian Wildlife Research Centre 
     
     of the Canadian Wildlife Service 
     
     issued an information package on 
     
     the use of collars. Banders are 
     
     warned that the neck bands may 
     
     cause problems for the geese and 
     
     they are urged to limit their use 
     
     to essential studies and to mark 
     
     the minimum number of birds pos- 
     
     sible (author's emphasis). (In the 
     
     Atlantic Flyway study, only a few 
     
     thousand geese were handed in 
     
     Canada, and these wer done in the 
     
     far north. These northern birds 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     14 
     
    
   
   
    
     tend to winter quite far south, 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘where the icing risk would not be 
     
    
   
   
    
     great.) The Canadian Wildlife Ser— 
     
     vice has received several applica- 
     
     tions for funding future neck—band- 
     
     ing projects, but these must go be— 
     
     fore local animal care committees 
     
     before being approved. Given the 
     
     public outcry against recent icing 
     
     incidents, these proposals will 
     
     likely be carefully scrutinized. 
     
    

    
     Harry Lumsden, of the Wildlife 
     
     Research Section of the Ontario 
     
     Ministry of Natural Resources, be- 
     
     lieves that markings of any kind 
     
     ought to be tested on captive birds 
     
     before wild birds are touched. He 
     
     has noted that species differ widely 
     
     in their tolerance of markings. For 
     
     example, Canada geese seem to toler- 
     
     ate collars well after several days, 
     
     whereas snow geese never accept them. 
     
     Are there alternative marking systems 
     
     that would be less damaging to the 
     
     geese? Patagial (wing) tags have been 
     
     used on mute swans and trumpeter 
     
     swans in southern Ontario. This mark- 
     
     ing is highly visible and appears to 
     
     involve almost no risk for the sub- 
     
     ject. Such considerations must be of 
     
     prime importance in future projects, 
     
     especially in projects on the scale 
     
     of the Canada goose study. 
     
    

    
     In the meantime, the neck bands 
     
     continue to cause injury and death. 
     
     Early in February a Canada goose was 
     
     brought to Pat Smith in Oakville, 
     
     just west of Toronto on Lake Ontario. 
     
     Pat has been helping injured birds 
     
     for more than 30 years. Inside this 
     
     goose's yellow collar, a second col- 
     
     lar of ice had formed. This layer 
     
     was cutting into the neck tissue, 
     
     creating a strangling band around 
     
     neck and preventing the bird from 
     
     swallowing or breathing properly. 
     
     Blood was COming from the nares and 
     
     the bird could hardly keep its head 
     
     up. Pat thawed the ice and forcefed 
     
     the goose, nursing it back to rela— 
     
     tive health. But she hesitated to re- 
     
     move the band because she believed 
     
     that it would be like defacing gov- 
     
     ernment property. 
     
    

    
     ' Since the goose's neck could not 
     
     heal properly with the band on, she . 
     
    
   
   
    
     the 
     
    
   
   
    
     finally phoned the FON to find out