Illinois Wildlife Q&A Video: Goose Banding

A group of Canadian geese with gray bodies with black necks and heads and white cheek patches forage on an area of short cut grass.

Photo by Herbert Aust.

Film Date:

June & July, 2021

Speaker:

Randy Smith, Wetland Wildlife Program Manager, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Produced by:

Kathy Andrews Wright, Rick Wright, Sarah Marjanovic, Uros Marjanovic and Laura Kammin.

Edited by:

Sarah Marjanovic

Questions received in advance of the conversation are listed below, with the time noted should you desire to fast-forward to a topic of interest.

0:16 Introduction of Randy Smith

0:22 Description of the timing of the goose round-up and why it takes place when it does.

1:47 Where in Illinois does goose banding take place?

2:23 What is the process for capturing geese?

5:55 Description of the bands, both in composition and numbering.

6:56 What is the process for reporting recovered bands?

9:11 What is the goal for the number of geese banded annually?

10:28 What is the history of the Illinois goose banding project?

11:37 What have we learned from the research that has been taking place related to the goose banding project?

14:14 What has the goose banding project told us about the Illinois goose population?

If you are interested in viewing the text alternative for the video click the CC option at the lower margin of the video.


Kathy Andrews Wright retired from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources where she was editor of OutdoorIllinois magazine. She is currently the editor of OutdoorIllinois Journal.

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