Facts about Canada Geese
There are at least eleven different species of Canada geese. The species differ in size, length of neck, body shape and voice (type of honk). The smallest is the Cackling Canada Goose which weighs about 1.4 kg (3 pounds) and are just slightly larger than a Mallard duck. It lives in the Arctic region. Canada Geese are protected by hunting regulations. Governments are involved in the saving the wetlands and providing areas for resting and feeding. The geese were re-introduced in some parts of the US. Aleutian Canada Geese are listed as threatened. Many were killed because of a large population of Arctic foxes and red foxes in their nesting areas in the north (Alaska). Canada Geese have become problems in towns and cities. They inhabit parks and golf courses, eat the grass and leave droppings everywhere. If people get too close to the goslings, the parents may attack. Canada Geese are water birds and probably the most populated water bird in North America. They can weigh as much as twenty-four pounds. Canada Geese are twenty-two to fourty-eight inches in length. Male and female look quite similar and the only way to visually tell them apart is by their size. Male Canada Geese are slightly larger than the females. Canada Geese have a wing span which is more than 6 feet! This huge wingspan allows them to fly very fast. Their cruising speeds are about 30mph(miles per hour), while speed during migration is about 40mph.In case they are in a hurry to get somewhere, they can attain a flying speed of as much as 60mph. Canada Geese fly in very identifyable v-shaped formation, sometimes they will fly in v-shaped formation for thousands of miles. During migration they fly during the night and day. Their migration routes never ever vary. They use the same route year after year and the young ones learn the same route from their parents and come back to the same spot in spring where they were born. Canada Geese eat barries, clover, salt grasses, plants, marsh grasses, cattails, pond weeds and in the fall they will go for kernels of corn that were missed at harvest in the corn fields. In spring, when the Canada Geese arrive at the place where they will build their nests, the yearlings leave their parents. It will take another two years before these young birds mate and produce young ones of their own. Canada Geese build their nests on the ground near water. The female build the nest using grass, leaves and moss. She also chooses the site of the nest, she will pick a spot from where she can get a clear view of the surroundings while sitting on the nest so that she can figure out a predator easily. Sometimes instead of building a new nest she will use a nest that was built by an owl, osprey, hawk or heron the previous year. Male canada Goose take no part in sitting on the nest to keep the eggs warm, but he stay closer to the nest to protect it from predators and once he sense some danger he spread his wings and hiss to scare off the predators. Canada Geese' eggs take almost 25 to 30 days tro hatch. The goslings(baby Canada Geese) start swimming in water within 24 hours of their birth. Strangely, during incubation the adult Canada Geese loose their flight feathers or molt and aren't able to fly, but these feathers grow back quite some time before migration and trhen they teach their young ones to fly. These geese mate for life. |
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