Nene Breeding Season Begins Successfully
Posted at 10:52 am December 5, 2005 by Joshua Kramer
At the Maui Bird Conservation Center (MBCC) the air is filled with the patter of little webbed feet and shrill peeps from downy chicks only days old. The onset of winter means two things to biologists working on Maui: afternoon rain showers and goslings galore. This season is no different as the first goslings began hatching during the middle of a wet November, culminating with four goslings hatching on Thanksgiving Day. MBCC manages four nene breeding pairs. Their first clutches collectively produced 18 goslings from 18 fertile eggs–100% hatchability!
Back in mid-September staff biologists prepared for the nene breeding season by supplying nesting huts and tubs filled with wood shavings. Female nene, adding down from their own bodies, create cozy nests. In the wild nene females lay between three to five eggs, although this year one MBCC female laid six eggs. Anticipating how difficult it was for this female to incubate such a large number of eggs, biologists removed two of the six eggs for artificial incubation. Once all the goslings hatched the ” extra” chicks were returned to their parents and clutch””mates.
Nene females are very attentive and conscientious mothers. Nene males also make very good parents. Males guard the female during incubation and chaperone her while she’s away from the nest. A male will even nip and herd his mate back to her nest if he believes she’s neglected the eggs for too long. After the goslings hatch, males maintain vigilance, guiding the goslings to food and water and providing protection from predators. Males protect their goslings from anything and everything, including passing lawnmowers or biologists who dare to approach too closely.
Whenever possible, biologists remain fairly ” hands-off” during the growth of the goslings. Food is provided several times each day, although goslings compliment their diet by browsing on grasses within their pens. Goslings are monitored for health and development issues. Biologists weigh goslings each week to track growth rates and perform regular band changes to accommodate the gosling’s rapid growth. Not surprisingly, goslings have huge appetites!
With the arrival of another wet winter, biologists cannot help but smile at the Chaplinesque antics of a family of goslings waddling through the grass.
Josh Kramer works at the Maui Bird Conservation Center, part of CRES’s Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program.
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December 5th, 2005 at 11:57 am
OK, I had to google these birds…they are the state bird of Hawaii and in the ’50s their population was down to 30 birds. These geese have weak wings, half-webbed feet, and the sound clip I heard sounds sort of like mooing or moaning rather than the honk of a Canada goose.
I also read a bit about the extinction or near-extinction of so many Hawaiian birds. Although ancient Hawaii was a paradise for birds and a fascinating evolutionary study of how isolation changed species, since man arrived on the islands many bird species have been destroyed by rats, snakes, pigs, and other predators brought to the islands on ships.
CRES and people like those who work at MBCC are fighting to preserve the beautiful and unusual creatures that are left on the islands. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
December 5th, 2005 at 11:58 am
Josh, congratulations on your new arrivals. I’m sure you and your fellow workers are very proud parents!! Can you let us know the status of the Nene in the wild? Is it still as endangered? And will these youngsters eventually be returned to the wild? Thanks so much for letting us know about this wonderful event!
December 5th, 2005 at 7:15 pm
So heartwarming to know that daddy also plays a big role.
What a sweet family picture you’ve painted for us!
December 7th, 2005 at 1:55 pm
Congratulations on a successful clutch of eggs and hatchlings! It sounds like the nene babies are in good hands!
December 9th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
Thank you, Josh, for a fine description of our nene breeding efforts at the Maui Bird Conservation Center. To bring our blog readers up to date, the nene at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center (the San Diego Zoo’s ” other” propagation facility in Hawaii) are also breeding. We have one pair that is now sheparding three goslings as well as two pairs of wild nene that have adopted the Center as their prefered breeding site and both pairs are now sitting on eggs… goslings soon to come. Thank you again, Josh, for your nene narrative.
December 10th, 2005 at 5:55 pm
Hello and thank you for you generous and caring comments.
Currently, wild populations, numbering around 1,000 individuals, can be found on the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, and Kauai.
Yes, the nene is still listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Finally, our current batch of goslings will spend several weeks of development with their parents. Then they will be released, probably on one of the above mentioned islands.
For more information the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Audubon Society manage nene Web pages.