Goose egg addling

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A Canada goose guarding its eggs in an Applebee's parking lot in Virginia. 2018-05-08 16 59 05 Canadian Goose and nest with eggs in the parking lot of the Applebee's in Fair Lakes, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg
A Canada goose guarding its eggs in an Applebee's parking lot in Virginia.

Goose egg addling is a wildlife management method of population control for Canada geese and other bird species. The process of addling involves temporarily removing fertilized eggs from the nest, testing for embryo development, killing the embryo, and placing the egg back in the nest. Returning the egg to the nest misleads the goose into believing the egg is still developing. Otherwise, the goose would begin laying again. [1]

Contents

In order to work effectively, addling must be conducted in a manner that does not arouse the suspicion of the goose, and must not change the odor, appearance or texture of the egg. Effective addling techniques are disseminated by the Humane Society of the United States and Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. Perhaps the easiest way to addle is to coat the egg with corn oil, thereby depriving the embryo of oxygen and killing it. [2]

Canada geese are covered in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. [3] According to the Humane Society of the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service no longer requires special permits to addle eggs in the contiguous United States, but one must register with the Service first (Resident Canada Goose Nest and Egg Registration Site).

Methods

The most common method of egg addling is oiling, in which an egg is coated with an oil (usually food-grade) to prevent the embryo from forming any further. In Canada geese and cormorants, 100% corn oil is used, [4] [5] as it is relatively cheap compared to other oils. [6] Other oils known to be effective include castor, linseed, safflower, soybean, and white mineral oil. [6]

Canada goose eggs, like these, may be coated with vegetable oil to prevent them from developing. Canada Goose Eggs.jpg
Canada goose eggs, like these, may be coated with vegetable oil to prevent them from developing.

In addition to oiling, eggs may be shaken or punctured. Puncturing is considered less reliable by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and so it is not used as often. [4] Shaking is also unpopular as, if done incorrectly, it can result in the hatching of deformed goslings. [7]

OvoControl G is a drug containing nicarbazin, originally developed as a drug for treating coccidiosis in chickens, that comes in a wheat-based bread which the bird takes orally. It has been proposed for Canada goose control, as its side effects include reduced clutch numbers and a low hatch rate. [8] Unlike egg oiling, OvoControl G does not require nests to be tracked down, and fewer people are needed to lay the bait, giving it an advantage over oiling. [9]

Use in Canada Goose Control

History

Goose egg addling was predominantly used in the aftermath of the plane crash of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009. Following an investigation by officials, which determined the plane crash was caused by a bird strike of Canada geese, an estimated 1,739 goose eggs were coated with oil in an effort to prevent any similar incidents from occurring. [10]

Effects on geese

After their eggs have been oiled, geese will remain at their nests, even well after the time the eggs would have hatched. [11] Depending on the desired outcome, this can be seen as a pro or a con. If the goal is to keep geese isolated, oiling would be a good solutions, but if the goal is to get geese to leave the area, oiling would be a poor choice. [11]

Use in other species

Egg oiling has been used to control ring-billed gulls, with mixed results. Ring-billed gulls in Red Hook (42792).jpg
Egg oiling has been used to control ring-billed gulls, with mixed results.

Egg oiling has been used to control American herring gulls. Unlike Canada geese, the gulls usually abandon their nests if the eggs fail to hatch, and their clutches are generally more likely to be lost to predators if they have been oiled. [12] Ring-billed gulls have also been managed in this way, though results have been mixed; one study found that colonies do not leave the treated area, and the authors did not recommend oiling as a control method, [13] while another found that it caused a population decrease and called the oiling "beneficial". [14]

In addition to managing native nuisance species, oiling can be used to prevent the further spread of invasive species. House sparrows, invasive in North America, have been controlled by treating their eggs with canola oil. This results in a complete prevention of hatching. [15] The Cornell Lab of Ornithology recommends oiling as a management solution for house sparrows and European starlings. [16]

Ethics

Many animal rights and welfare groups support egg addling as a humane alternative to other forms of goose control, such as culling. Humane World for Animals supports egg oiling before the embryo is viable, and also supports removing eggs from the nest and replacing them with ceramics. [17] People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also endorses egg oiling before 14 days of development, though it discourages puncturing or shaking. [18]

In 2021, the city of Rochester, Minnesota planned a volunteer-based egg addling program in Silver Lake Park. It was met with opposition by writer Greg Munson, who was concerned that after oiling, "there will be a handful of days, I'm guessing, not minutes or hours that that gosling will be suffocating before it dies, if it does die." [19] He further added that replacing eggs with ceramics would be more ethical. On the day of the addling, at least 25 people came in person to protest. [20]

Legality

In North America, birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act cannot be harmed or harassed; this applies to eggs and nests. The treaty does not include invasive species. [16] In the United States, agricultural operations, [5] homeowner's associations, and public land managers may addle eggs with federal permission. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has a registration program for such cases. [21]

References

  1. ↑ Missouri Department of Conservation. "Link". How to Addle and Oil Eggs. State of Missouri. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  2. ↑ Humane Society of the United States. (March 2004) Canada Goose egg addling protocol. p.4. Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918
  4. 1 2 "The Use of Egg Addling in Wildlife Damage Management" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture . October 2022.
  5. 1 2 McGlashen, Andy (6 February 2020). "Without Solid Science, Government Plans to Expand Cormorant Killing Methods". Audubon Society .
  6. 1 2 Pochop, Patricia A. (January 1998) "Effectiveness of Several Oils to Reduce Hatchability of Chicken Eggs." The Journal of Wildlife Management, 62(1) 395-398
  7. ↑ Spears, Tom (16 June 2015). "Shell-Shocked: Shaking eggs can deform baby geese, experts say". Ottawa Citizen.
  8. ↑ Caudell, Joe N. (May 2010) Using a Cost-Effectiveness Model to Determine the Applicability of OvoControl G to Manage Nuisance Canada Geese. [[The Journal of Wildlife Management]], 74(4) 843-848
  9. ↑ Bynum, Kimberly S. (February 2007) Nicarbazin OvoControl G Bait Reduces Hatchability of Eggs Laid by Resident Canada Geese in Oregon. [[The Journal of Wildlife Management]], 71(1)135-143
  10. ↑ Akam, Simon (October 4, 2009). "For Culprits in Miracle on Hudson, the Flip Side of Glory". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  11. 1 2 Beaumont, Matthieu (September 2018). Behavioral Response of Canada Geese to Egg-Oiling and Nest Removal. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 82(7) 136.
  12. ↑ Blackwell, Bradley F. (2000) Early Loss of Herring Gull Clutches after Egg-Oiling. Journal of Wildlife Management, 28(1) 70-75
  13. ↑ DeVault, Travis L. (2014) Influence of egg oiling on colony presence of ring-billed gulls. Human-Animal Interactions, 8(1) 22-30.
  14. ↑ Engemen, Richard (April 2012). Egg Oiling to Reduce Hatch-Year Ring-Billed Gull Numbers on Chicago's Beaches During Swim Season and Water Quality Test Results. EcoHealth 9(2) 195-204.
  15. ↑ Fernandez-Duque, Facundo (December 2019). Egg oiling as an effective management technique for limiting reproduction in an invasive species. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 14(2) 20.
  16. 1 2 Managing House Sparrows and European Starlings. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
  17. ↑ Solving Problems with Canada Geese. Humane Society of the United States. p. 5.
  18. ↑ Human Goose Control Solutions. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. p. 9.
  19. ↑ Petersen, Randy (13 April 2021). "Addling plan continues in goose management effort". Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Minnesota).
  20. ↑ Petersen, Randy (15 April 2021). "Protest greets volunteer egg-addling effort in Silver Lake Park". Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Minnesota).
  21. ↑ Resident Canada Goose Registration. United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
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