Returning Geese

One of the sure signs of spring is the familiar sight of beautiful V-shaped formations of Canada Geese. Not interested in our cold winters, they head south to warmer climes while we seem to thrive on the cold weather and associated skiing. Recently, they've begun to appear again as they make their way north to their summer nesting sites. Some, like many residents of the Bow Valley, will get sidetracked and end up nesting on some of the nice alpine lakes along the Rockies.

Easily identified by its long black neck and white cheeks, the Canada Goose is known by all Canadians. Often seen grazing along golf courses or in farmers fields, they are as comfortable on land as they are in the water. They generally do most of their feeding on terra firma, unlike most waterfowl which do their feeding in the water. They are very fond of grasses, particularly the carefully cultivated grasses around most golf courses. Once they become accus-tomed to humans, they can be very obnoxious and difficult to move off the course. Yelling "Four" doesn't even seem to phase them. They do dabble a bit in ponds for the odd morsel, but prefer terrestrial feeding.

Also unusual amongst waterfowl are their mating preferences. They tend to mate for life, unlike the mate for the season habit of the local mallards. Their lives can be quite long, living for up to 33 years with some claims being as long as 80 years (unverified). Upon nesting, usually on a small island, they lay 5-6 large white eggs. Almost immediately upon hatching, the young geese leave the nest and take to the water with their parents. This behaviour is important to ground nesting birds like geese. If the young were born helpless like many tree nesting birds, predators would very likely make a quick meal out of most of the goslings. Within the next nine weeks, the young will grow at an incredible rate. By the end of this period, they resemble their parents very closely. I remember watching several families at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in Calgary, and the changes over the course of a week were astounding.

Their trademark V-shaped flocking behaviour is well planned. In this formation, all but the leader are able to lessen the work of flying long distances. This is due to their using the same techniques as cycle racers--they draft. The leader breaks the wind for each subsequent member who in turn does the same for their follower. Occasionally, the leader will change and a fresh bird will take over.