Their name suggests they are just visiting, but the Canada geese that flock near the beach at Beltzville State Park are full-time Pennsylvania residents.

There are nonmigratory Canada geese nesting near bodies of water across the state, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission tries to keep track of their total population. On Monday, staff and volunteers came to Carbon County to temporarily capture the birds and fit them with leg bands, or to track ones that already have them.

“The residents stay in one general area. Some of the recaptures were probably banded at Beltzville or some surrounding area before,” said Molly Giles, waterfowl biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northeast region.

Leg banding is a common way to keep track of bird populations. The game commission does it for resident Canada geese annually. They do it for other bird species, and have similar programs where they capture deer and bears.

During the fall and winter, Canada geese hunting season, hunters don’t need a tag like they do for deer or bear. Instead, the bands help the game commission track how many were taken by hunters during a given year.

The metal bands each have a unique number and a website where hunters can report if they took one.

Early summer is the best time to band the resident birds. The migratory birds are far north in Canada, and the resident geese temporarily lose the ability to fly.

Each year, geese molt their flying wings. It takes about three weeks for them to grow back.

During that time, they flock closely to avoid predators, making it easier for the biologists to surround them with a temporary enclosure. The geese are then taken out one by one and tagged.

Beltzville was chosen because of its large population of resident geese. The team also stopped at Weissport Canal Park.

Lots of state parks have large geese populations because they have open areas adjacent to the water. Bodies of water surrounded by trees don’t necessarily attract them.

“We make a perfect location for them. They get a grazing lawn, and they love that,” said Nate Huck, the game commission’s chief waterfowl biologist.

A hundred years ago, there were no resident geese nesting in Pennsylvania. Now they nest in every county. With current hunting regulations, the state population of resident geese has stayed level for about 10 years. Hunters can take up to eight per day during the season, which takes place on and off between October and February.

The game commission tries to band about 1 percent of the state’s resident geese each year. That is enough to make an educated guess about how many were taken by hunters statewide.

“Even though we’re not concerned about Canada geese (due to their stable population), it’s still important that we’re monitoring them,” Huck said.