By Taylor Chartrand

Geese population continues to grow in Medicine Hat

Dec 28, 2018 | 1:57 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – The numbers are in for the 2018 Bird Count in Medicine Hat and there are roughly half as many birds as there are people here in the Gas-City.

In total, there were 28,677 birds counted this year (58 species), making it the second highest bird count total since 2015 (29,541). 

Most notably, the Canadian geese numbers have been climbing over the past two years reaching record highs. This year, there were 21,586 Canadian geese in the region, up from the 2017 total of 19,848.

Park Interpreter from the Nature Centre, Marty Drut said the increasing number of geese is all thanks to their adaptability.

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“They need open water and feed,” explained Drut. “They mostly eat grass or left over grain and there’s plenty of that around.”

Drut then furthered his statement by adding this:

“We have a resident population that’s here year round and their numbers have increased. They act as an attractant for the migratory Canadian geese that generally head further south. If the geese can find those requirements of water and food, then there’s no reason for them to migrate south.”

Along with Canadian geese, mallards contributed heavily to the total, as they were 23% greater in 2018 than in 2017 (2,495 and 1,740.)

The bird count itself dates back to the early 1900’s, but Drut said it started in Medicine Hat 37 years ago.

“It’s interesting to note because we’ve set records for geese the last two years and when we compare that to the very beginning of the counts here in Medicine Hat, there were hardly any geese in Medicine Hat at all. That’s a trend that has definitely changed over the years.”

Another neat statistic that Drut added, was the fact that the Nature Centre has been able to capture the impact of the west-nile virus on the Black-billed Magpies.

“There was a good numbers of magpies (500 in the count) and then their numbers dipped in the mid-2000’s because of the virus and now they’ve come back in recent years. It’s nice to be able to monitor those trends.”

Other notable record highs for the 2018 bird count included the Northern Flicker (167), Blue Jay (130) and the Black-capped Chickadee (321).

The only historical low recorded this year was the house sparrow (460).

In addition to those historical records, Drut added there were a couple odd-ball birds hanging around for this years count.

“One was called the Gray Catbird and we rarely see it this late into the year. Then we had a very rare visitor from Eurasia, a bird called a Brambling. It’s a finch-like bird and it was picked up by one of the feeder-watchers. There’s only a few records for this bird in Alberta.”

If you would like to take part in next years bird count, you can find further information by contacting Drut at marty.drut@natureline.info.