There were so many Canada Geese on the water at Willband this morning. As we were starting our walk it seemed that they had received some sort of a signal and literally hundreds took to the air. Squawking away to each other away they all went. It was amazing to see.
I found some interesting information on the internet about geese. Please feel free to skip it if you're not interested.
Quick learners
Baby geese, called goslings, are impressionable little birds. They’ve been known to follow just about anything that moves, from dogs to humans, mistaking the creatures for their mother. The impressionable young use this skill to mimic the adults, learning how to swim just 24 hours after hatching. At only one day old, goslings can dive 30 to 40 feet underwater.
Parent geese teach their young how to fly when the goslings are two to three months old. The goslings will stay with their parents for the first year of their life and even migrate with the adults that year.
As the goslings continue to grow and become more independent of their parents, they may group together with other young geese. These groups, called “gang broods,” can consist of up to 100 goslings.
Partners for life
Canada geese don’t start looking for a mate until they’re two or three years old. While looking for a mate, the geese use assortative mating, meaning they look for a goose about the same size as themselves. The birds mate for life, which can be anywhere from 10 to 25 years. If their partner dies, the remaining goose will try to find a new one.
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