An isolated population of small Canada geese on Kaliktagik Island, Alaska

Recently we discovered that a small form of the Canada Goose Branta canadensis breeds on Kaliktagik Island, one of the Semidi Islands, about 80 km south of the Alaska Peninsula near longitude 157°W (Figure 1). The unexpected occurrence of geese on this oceanic island and the possibility that they are closely allied with the endangered Aleutian race of Canada Geese B. c. leucopareia prompt this summary of observations made between 1977 and 1981, in the course of field studies on seabirds of the area.