Monday 14 October 2024

Geese

 


 
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.

 

Thanks for visiting,  GM

17 comments:

  1. Interesting info about Canada geese. I didn't know all this about the goslings.

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  2. I can imagine the noise of the geese as they gather on the water!

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  3. Hello Granny M, that was some interesting information on the geese. I didn't realize they could live so long. I was outside putting some flower pots away this morning and saw a large flock flying overhead. We don't see them as often as we used now that they have been discouraged from stopping in at our lake. It looked like they were flying north rather than south. hmmm,,, hopefully their leader knows what he's about.

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  4. Very interesting information about the geese. There is a beaver pond back behind our property that the geese use and I love hearing their long sad honks as they pass over our property.

    I also like the picture at the end. The words are so true.

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  5. I knew some of the geese facts and was pleased to learn some more.

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  6. Very interesting! But boy can those geese make a mess when they gather all together.
    Cathy

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  7. Mary, I hope I don't run into any goose so I don't! hehehe!

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  8. What an amazing life with the geese! They may have a safe good life on our wonderful blue planet.

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  9. I did not know most of these facts about geese...I did know they mate for life, though. It is all so interesting.

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  10. So many geese! They make quite a racket. I find it interesting that the geese mate for life.

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  11. What a wonderful sight to see so many geese taking flight together. The facts were interesting - I never knew they mated for life :)

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  12. So true and the one year olds sometimes babysit next years goslings...I have seen them surround the babies to protect them:)

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  13. We have SO many geese close to our place due to the lagoon and yes, they sure can make a noise when they are in such a large group. It is always interesting to glean more facts about the wildlife around us. A rare sighting of a Brant goose has caused quite a stir in our area right now. Thank you for sharing the saying at the end of your post - it was most applicable!
    Ellabie

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  14. I used to live in an area where 100,000 of these geese flew in every Autumn. And so many people came to watch them. It was a huge tourist attraction. Their numbers have diminished in the past few years there, for whatever reason. I have great memories of all the geese when my kids were growing up.

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  15. I enjoy seeing geese and the info is great 👍

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  16. So many geese!
    Many thanks for the information.

    All the best Jan

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  17. Very interesting! I love it when the geese fly overhead. I've never seen them alight on water here, but we do get occasional "v"s of geese in the air.

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