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Articles

Vol. 10 No. 3 (1979)

NOTES: CANADA GOOSE ESTABLISHED AS A BREEDING SPECIES IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Submitted
September 3, 2025
Published
July 1, 1979

Abstract

We report here on 20 years of records which establish the Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) as a breeding bird in the San Francisco Bay area. In California, this species is generally not considered to breed regularly south of the northeastern corner of the state (Kortright 1943:86, Johnsgard 1975). Occasional breeding records have been recorded for the Lake Tahoe area (Grinnell and Miller 1944), and more recently from Bridgeport Reservoir in Mono County (Gaines 1977:6). Additional instances of breeding are known from a reservoir east-southeast of Marysville, Yuba County (F. Kozlik, Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, pers. comm.). In the spring of 1932 a single pair nested on Crystal Springs Reservoir in San Mateo County (Moffitt 1939). Starting in 1959, however, a breeding colony became established on Brooks Island, Contra Costa County, and has probably bred there every year since that time (2 to 16 adults seen each year).

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