A COMPARISON OF DIURNAL TIME BUDGETS FROM PAIRED INTERIOR CANADA GEESE WITH AND WITHOUT OFFSPRING

Diurnal activities of paired (male and female together without offspri ng) Interior Canada Geese (Branta canadensis interior) were compared t o those of parents (pairs with offspring) of the Mississippi valley Po pulation (MVP) during fall through spring 1984-1985 and 1985-1986. Act ivities of parents with different numbers of offspring also were compa red. The dominant activities of geese were alert, resting and feeding behaviors, which together averaged greater than or equal to 70% of the diurnal period regardless of social class, habitat, year, season or l ocation. For both males and females, parents spent more time alert tha n pairs during fall, winter and spring. Parental vigilance probably be nefitted young by allowing them greater access to food. Generally, the costs of maintaining this parental vigilance were apparently spread a cross several activities so that time spent resting or feeding did not differ between parents and pairs. The only exception was for females at Union County Conservation Area (CA) in fall, when the behavioral co st of parental vigilance was less time feeding. Parent males with grea ter than or equal to 3 offspring rested less than those with only one offspring. In lake habitats, females with two offspring fed more than females with three offspring. It is suggested that for Interior Canada Geese, diurnal time constraints on parents during fall-spring have on ly minor influences on the evolution of optimal brood size when compar ed to constraints during the nesting season.