Moult migration, site fidelity and survival of British Greylag Geese Anser anser at Windermere, Cumbria

Abstract

ABSTRACT Analyses of 2280 re-encounters made during 2014–20 of 300 adult British Greylag Geese Anser anser marked at Windermere, Cumbria, in summers 2013–16 are used to describe the patterns of their moult migration. Results show that birds moulting at Windermere are migrating mainly from the nearby counties of Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, and from within Cumbria itself. Resightings at Windermere showed that the number of individuals returning to moult decreased during the study: possible reasons for this are given. We also provide new and updated information on the survival and mean dispersal distance for non-breeding British Greylag Geese. The mean dispersal distance away from Windermere for all marked individuals was 83.3 km (95% CI  73.4–93.2). Annual mean survival rates ranged between 0.568 and 0.872 over the study period, with a mean of 0.680 (95% CI  0.584–0.775). Results from this study contribute to improving our knowledge of the demography of the British Greylag Goose population.