Canada Goose

Click here to hear Canada Geese honking.

More interesting things have been discovered about the Canada goose than almost any other bird, and it's important to remember that Canadas are wild.

The Canada goose is one of the few wild things that mates for life. The Canada chooses a mate usually during the second or third year of its life. Until one of the geese dies, this pair sticks together. A goose left alone by the death of its mate will mate again, however.

Courtship displays of Canada geese are fun and interesting to watch. The gander, or male, is a fierce defender of his mate and offspring. After giving fair warning, the male begins to pump his head very quickly. This is his attack signal, and an aroused gander will charge any suspected enemy, even one as large as an elk. The gander looks large, as his wingspread is as much as five feet and his weight usually nears 14 pounds.

Canadas are usually between 22 and 48 inches in length. Their heads and necks are black, and they have bold, white cheek patches. Their bodies are gray-brown.

Canada geese are good parents, staying with their young for almost three-quarters of a year. Canada parents are very protective of their young. Young geese, called goslings, learn to survive early in their lives. In their first day in the water, goslings can swim four or five yards underwater. If danger threatens on land, goslings flatten themselves so that they look like rocks or mounds of sand. The lucky ones survive to become adults. As soon as their parents hatch the next set of goslings, the yearling geese move out.

Every year, Canada geese breed in the same place that they were hatched. One of the most interesting things about the Canada is that it travels a long way during migration to find the same spot to make a nest each spring.

The female, or goose, lines its nest with plant matter and down feathers. The female lays between two and 12 white eggs, and in about 25 to 30 days, goslings are born.

In Wyoming, there are geese from as many as three separate bunches of geese. These bunches are called populations. Geese found here can be born as far away as northern Canada and can spend the winter as far away as the south part of California.

How do the geese find their way around the world? No one knows for sure. Biologists do know that during the day, and when the moon is shining at night, geese use rivers, mountain ranges and big lakes as landmarks. Biologists also know that even when geese can't see landmarks, they can still keep flying the right way.

Canada geese are doing very well throughout North America. Today, there are more geese in Wyoming than there ever have been. This is probably because we have done some things to help the goose.

Grass and grain have been planted. In most parts of Wyoming, the Game and Fish Department has built nesting platforms that are set on poles. Islands in rivers or ponds are good nesting places. They protect nests from animals that might eat the eggs. Game and Fish has also built islands.

Information about goose migration has been obtained from putting numbered bands on the legs of many birds. This helps workers know where the bird has been. Geese are banded every spring in Wyoming.

Another reason the Canada goose has increased so fast for the last 30 years is the fact that lots of goslings are hatched each year, and most of them grow up.