3/19/2023 0 Comments Flocks of geese are called![]() ![]() For most bird species that migrate from temperate climates to the tropics in winter, migration is instinctual. There are two different types of bird migration. They are so destructive.Two geese tails emerge from water as they look for food When it’s time to go They foul the land, they foul the waterways, they foul everything. But Phillips said there needed to be a conversation about where the geese fit in to national and regional priorities, and ultimately, a commitment over who will deal with the problem.įederated Farmers spokesperson Simon Williamson said that in hindsight, the change to the birds’ status should probably never have happened. “It’s not a straightforward situation and there is no quick fix, but there is room to nut out what coordination would look like.”Ĭoordination between councils and other interested groups is most often seen when it comes to culling the geese near airports, to minimise the threat of bird strike. Rob Phillips, the biosecurity spokesperson for Local Government New Zealand, the national body that represents councils, said part of the difficulty in making the birds a regional council’s responsibility was that the geese moved between regional boundaries. “Canada geese are a really good example of what happens when you make rash management decisions.” In the past, Fish and Game would have happily shouldered that cost, but now the problem was much bigger and more expensive than 10 years ago, he said. ![]() “If you start calling a species a pest, you have to start spending money on it and I guess the question is: who is going to spend that money?” Wilson said. ![]() And some well-intentioned plans to curb populations have had to be scrapped, while other councils are resorting to short-term solutions with mixed results – a bird repellent called “Flock Off”. It is left up to councils to deem them as pests, but so far no council has done it. The geese are not formally designated a pest in New Zealand, which means they do not fall under the ministry of primary industries’ biosecurity remit. There is no longer centralised data about the nationwide population – that halted when Fish and Game were stripped of their authority - but Wilson said that in the central North Island “the numbers are going through the roof”.įish and Game’s most recent swan and waterfowl count for that region showed the Canada geese population had increased roughly six times in 10 years, with at least 12,000 birds now living near the Waikato lakes, Wilson said. When you have a decoy and are trying to hide and someone is taking shots at you, it discourages people.” “When we lost status, they had no status at all, and anyone could take a potshot, and that becomes dangerous for game-bird hunters. That was all done at the expense of game-bird hunters. “When populations were getting out of hand, we would have an organised cull, which was very popular. The change to the bird’s status “changed the whole way they were managed”, Fish and Game’s Ben Wilson said. Not only are hunters not as readily available, but summer holidaymakers frequent the waterholes where the birds roost and graze, making it harder for hunters to safely go about their business. That window sits between Christmas and New Year. To shoot them in flight requires practice, skill and preferably a helicopter, so culls are often carried out during their moult, when they lose their feathers and become flightless for a short period of time. ![]() If their nests come under threat, they move into safer, harder-to-reach habitats. ![]()
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