Nest Egg FAQ

RESIDENT CANADA GOOSE
NEST & EGG DEPREDATION ORDER
What are Resident Canada Geese?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) identifies “resident Canada geese” as those nesting within the
lower 48 States and the District of Columbia in the months of March, April, May, or June, or residing within
the lower 48 States and the District of Columbia in the months of April, May, June, July, or August.
What is a Depredation Order?
A depredation order provides regulatory authorization under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) to conduct
specific migratory bird depredation management activities without the need for individual Federal permits.
The resident Canada goose nest and egg depredation order, issued on August 10, 2006, is codified in Title
50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 21, section 21.50 (50 CFR 21.50). The MBTA is administered by
the Service.
What does the Resident Canada Goose Nest and Egg Depredation Order allow?
The resident Canada goose nest and egg depredation order authorizes landowners and local governments
who register with the Service to destroy resident Canada goose nests and eggs on property under their
jurisdiction when necessary to resolve or prevent injury to people, property, agricultural crops, or other
interests. The order does not authorize the killing of any migratory bird species or destruction of any nests or
eggs other than those of resident Canada geese.
Who may operate under the depredation order?
Private and public landowners, managers of public lands, and homeowners’ associations (hereafter referred
to as landowners); and village, town, municipalities, and county governments (hereafter referred to as local
governments) who register with the Service are eligible to implement the depredation order on lands under
their jurisdiction. Landowners must identify in their registration employees or agents who may act on their
behalf. Landowners must be at least 18 years of age to register.
What States does the depredation order cover?
It covers the lower 48 States and the District of Columbia. It does not include Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the Pacific Territories.
What are the requirements for operating under the depredation order?
(1) Before any nests or eggs may be destroyed, landowners must go on-line and register with the
Service. Registration is valid for one nesting season. It must be renewed each year before nests
and eggs may be destroyed. There is no fee for registration.
(2) Landowners must use nonlethal goose management techniques as they deem appropriate in order
to minimize the need to destroy nests and eggs.
(3) Landowners must return to the registration website (see How do I register? below) and report by
October 31 the number of nests and eggs destroyed on their property.
How do I register?
To register, go to https://epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR or go to www.fws.gov/permits and click on “New:
Resident Canada Goose Nest Egg Registration.”

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When can I register?
You must register each year prior to destroying nests/eggs. You may register anytime between January 1
and June 30 of the year in which your activity will take place. For instance, you may register for the 2008
nesting season beginning January 1, 2008.
When can resident Canada goose nests and eggs be destroyed under the order?
Nests and eggs may only be destroyed between March 1 and June 30.
Do I have to comply with other laws and regulations?
Although you are no longer required to have a Federal permit, it is important that you check with your State
or Tribal wildlife agency to determine if your State or Tribe has additional or stricter requirements for
destroying resident Canada goose nests and eggs. You must be in compliance with State or Tribal laws in
order to lawfully operate under the depredation order. Refer to State Wildlife Agency Contacts and
Information on Resident Canada Goose Nest and Egg Destruction posted on this Registration site for
information about your State.
Can a homeowners’ association register on behalf of the association members?
Yes. An officer of a homeowners association may register a subdivision, condominium complex, or other
homeowner properties under its jurisdiction. Each member landowner does not need to register individually.
Landowner permission is not necessary for nest and egg work in common areas, but it is necessary before
performing the nest and egg work on an individual’s property.
Can a local government register on behalf of its citizens?
Yes. An officer of a local government (i.e., village, town, municipality, and county government) may register
areas under their jurisdiction. Thus, each landowner within this jurisdiction would not need to register
individually. However, landowner permission is necessary before performing the nest and egg work on an
individual’s property. In addition, local governments or their agents must be in compliance with all State and
local laws and regulations and must register each employee or agent working on their behalf.
Can a landowner register their property and allow someone else, such as a pest control company or
organization, to perform the actual nest and egg destruction?
Yes. As long as the landowner has registered their property or properties with the Service for the current
nesting season and identified the agent(s) who will be doing the work, those agents are authorized to
operate under the depredation order.
Can a pest control company register and then conduct the work for their customers under the pest
control company’s registration?
No. The landowner must be the registrant, However, with the landowner’s permission, a pest control
company may create an account on the website and register the landowner on the landowner’s behalf. The
registration must be in the landowner’s name with the landowner’s address. With the landowner’s
permission, the pest control company should be identified as the Primary Contact in the registrant’s Account
Profile, The pest control company’s phone number and email address should be included. The pest control
company will receive the Registration Confirmation email. The landowner (registrant) remains responsible for
the activities on his or her property.
Can a minor perform the nest and egg destruction for a landowner?
Yes, as long as they are supervised by the landowner or an adult agent.
What is the reporting requirement and how do I comply?

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Each registered landowner must report the number of nests with eggs that were destroyed on their property
and the month they were destroyed by October 31 of the registration year. A report is required even if no
nests or eggs were destroyed. Landowners cannot re-register in future seasons if they have an outstanding
report. The report information is used by the Service to monitor and assess resident Canada goose
populations.
To report, go to https://epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR or go to www.fws.gov/permits and click on “New: Resident
Canada Goose Nest Egg Registration.” Log on to the system using your login ID and password. You will be
taken to your User Profile to certify the information is still current. You will then be able to report your activity
for the year. Please make sure you report the number of nests affected, not the number of individual eggs,
and do not leave any fields blank or the system will consider your report incomplete.
What methods are allowed for destroying and disposing of nests and eggs?
Eggs may be shaken, punctured, or oiled. Anyone oiling eggs must use 100% corn oil, a substance
exempted from regulation by the US EPA under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act.
Destroyed nest material and eggs may be left in the field or disposed of by burial, incineration, or placement
in outgoing trash, in accordance with local ordinances. Nests and eggs may not be retained for personal
use. No one is authorized to possess, sell, offer for sale, barter, or ship for the purpose of sale or barter
nests or eggs taken under the depredation order.
Are there specific protocols that must be followed for addling resident Canada goose eggs?
Numerous publications by State and Federal agencies, university extension services, and humane societies
provide protocols for oiling, shaking, or puncturing resident Canada goose eggs, and for destroying eggs and
replacing with dummy eggs. The Service does not mandate or endorse one particular protocol. See Where
can I learn more? at the end of this document for some website references.
What nonlethal goose management techniques should be tried before destroying nests and eggs?
Nonlethal suggestions include landscape modification to make the area less attractive to resident geese;
harassment and hazing with dogs or lasers; and repellants. Relocation of nests and eggs is not permitted.
Does all resident Canada goose nest and egg destruction have to be done under this depredation
order?
No. For at least the next several years, landowners will continue to have the option of applying for a
depredation permit. The application for a depredation permit is available at www.fws.gov/forms/3-20013.pdf. There is no fee to register on-line and work under the depredation order. However, there is an
application processing fee for a depredation permit ($50 for a homeowner and $100 for a business).
Other circumstances under which nest and egg destruction will not be done under the depredation order
include:
(1) Landowners in Alaska are still required to obtain Federal permits because the depredation order only
covers the lower 48 States.
(2) State wildlife agencies that hold Federal Special Canada Goose (SPCG) permits under 50 CFR
21.26 are already authorized to manage resident geese throughout their State, including by nest and
egg destruction. These States will determine whether they will continue to permit landowners to
destroy nests and eggs under the State’s Federal SPCG permit or require that landowners operate
under the Service’s nest and egg depredation order. A list with State contact information is posted
on the registration website.
(3) Public and military airports may continue to take nests and eggs under either airport depredation
permits or the airport control order (50 CFR 21.49).
(4) Nests and eggs may be destroyed under the depredation order for resident Canada geese at
agricultural facilities (50 CFR 21.51) and the public health depredation order (50 CFR 21.52) if the
State has chosen to implement these depredation orders.

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Where can I learn more?
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The final rule implementing the nest and egg depredation order can be found by clicking on “Text of
Regulation” on the Resident Canada Goose login page.
Information about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and other laws administered by the Service can be found
at www.fws.gov/permits/.
Information about Canada goose nesting management, including addling protocols, can be found in
“Management of Canada Goose Nesting” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, August 2009, at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/downloads/canada_goose.pdf.
Information about egg addling and other management protocols can be found in the Technical Guide
“Managing Canada Geese in Urban Environments” by A. E. Smith, S. R. Craven, and P. D. Curtis, 1999,
a publication of Cornell Cooperative Extension, the University of Wisconsin, The Jack H. Berryman
Institute, Wildlife Damage Management Working Group, at
http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/66.
The Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 420-203, posted November 2001, Managing Wildlife
Damage: Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), by Lisa French, Undergraduate, Department of Fisheries
and Wildlife Sciences and Jim Parkhurst, Associate Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist; Virginia
Tech, can be found at www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/wildlife/420-203/420-203.html.

If I have further questions about the resident Canada goose nest and egg depredation order, who can
I contact?
Contact your Regional Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Permit Office. Contacts can be found at
www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/mbpermits/addresses.html.
(August 28, 2014)

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