And most of those birds are resident geese, different from their migratory cousins of the coast.

The reasons are many, including human manipulation.

Which prompts a question: Was there a conscious decision by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to increase the number of Canada geese in the state?

"Yes and no," said Joe Fuller, migratory game bird coordinator for the commission. "In the '30s, '40s, '50s, we had very few resident Canada geese in North Carolina or the Atlantic Flyway. Some were here, and they might have originated from old decoy flocks from hunt clubs on the coast.

"Some of the birds we have now likely came from those geese. The majority are the result of geese brought in intentionally."

Fuller said many of the original geese brought in were a subspecies of Canada geese from the Midwest that didn't naturally migrate.

"The commission did introduce non-migratory geese in the '80s to augment the declining population of migratory geese," Fuller said from his office in Edenton. "Almost all the releases were in extreme eastern N.C. We think the geese you see in Raleigh are probably dispersed from neighboring states."

Fuller said the goose population in the Piedmont is so large because there are still areas of refuge such as parks and golf courses. Those refuge areas, coupled with a lack of natural predators and favorable breeding conditions, make for large flocks, unlike migratory flocks that face more uncertainty on northern breeding grounds.

The increase in resident populations has offset a loss of migratory geese. Fuller said three main causes are likely for the drop in migratory bird numbers: long-term change in weather patterns; long-term change in farming practices, improving forage farther north; and possible overhunting.

"We think they [the causes] are all interwoven," he said.

The number of resident Canada geese killed by hunters is not broken of out the total Canada goose harvest, but Fuller said wildlife officials assume that nearly all are resident geese. The harvest has risen from an estimated 44,500 in the 2001-02 season to 73,200 in 2005-06.

Fuller said he sees plenty of geese for the future.

"With our liberal bag limits and season lengths, we think the population in rural areas should stabilize," he said, "In the short term, it should be stable if not rise slightly."