Wild Geese

And in this annual barter of food for light, and winter warmth for summer solitude, the whole continent receives as net profit a wild poem dropped from the murky skies upon the muds of March.  
 –Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Though the winter has been mild, Lake Wapalanne has been at least partly frozen for most of the winter.  The thawing of the ice on the lake has been met with annual visitors in search of open water: Canada Geese.  Several pairs of the well-known birds have been seen around the lake, honking defensively at passersby as they stake out their nesting sites.

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) are the most widespread goose in North America.  Everyone recognizes these long-necked, black-headed birds as they graze on lawns, pick through the stubble in last summer’s cornfields, or fly in their characteristic V formations across the gray sky.  Their deep, musical honking is a classic sound heard in the autumn as winter approaches and again when spring arrives.

The Canada Goose has a brown body and wings, black tail, tan or cream-colored breast, black head and neck, and white chinstrap.  This large waterfowl has large, webbed feet and a wide, flat, black bill.  Canada Geese live near water, grassy areas, and grain fields.  They are often found in parks, golf courses, suburban areas, and other places with large lawns both because they feed on grass and because the open space allows them an unobstructed view of potential predators.  In addition to grasses, the geese also eat sedges, skunk cabbage leaves, and eelgrass.  During the fall and winter, they will commonly eat berries, seeds, and grain and corn kernels from agricultural fields.

Canada Geese mate for life.  Pairs remain together throughout the year, and the birds are often found in large flocks.  Mates will choose each other based on size: larger males will mate with larger females and smaller males will mate with smaller females.  This practice is known as “assortative mating.”  Size may also indicate subspecies of geese; the birds generally get smaller as one moves northward.  There are at least eleven recognized subspecies, and the four smallest forms are considered a different species: the Cackling Goose.  Subspecies are also recognized by color; the geese tend to be darker as one moves westward.

In early spring, the pairs of geese break away from their flocks and begin to defend their territory, as the couples are currently doing at Lake Wapalanne.  As long as population density permits it, geese will not nest within sight of each other.  The birds are very defensive of their nesting sites, using a variety of threat displays to keep other geese away.  They will pump their heads, open their bills with their tongue raised, and hiss and honk until the intruding goose retreats.  The birds are so aggressive that they will even grab each other by the breast or throat and use their wings to hit each other.

Once territory has been staked out, the female will select the nest site and build her nest.  The nest is a large, open cup made of dry grasses, lichens, mosses, and other plant material.  It is built on the ground, often on a slightly elevated site, and lined with down and body feathers.  The female will incubate two to eight eggs alone while the male guards the nest site.  In order to properly guard the nest, the geese prefer a site with an unobstructed view.

The female will incubate her creamy white eggs for just under a month.  When they hatch, the goslings are covered with soft, yellowish down.  After only one or two days, the baby birds can leave the nest to walk, swim, and feed.  Even though they are independent enough to leave the nest so early, they stay with their parents constantly.  The young birds will remain with their parents for their entire first year, though as they grow, they become more social and congregate with other families at good food sources.

Come winter, Canada Geese may migrate long distances to spend the winter in the southernmost parts of their range.  Some geese, however, may migrate short distances or not at all.  Recently, researchers have found that the geese are not flying quite as far south as they used to.  One reason for this change in migration patterns could be that waste grain from agricultural fields has become more available as a food source during winter months.  As long as the geese find open water and food resources, they can survive icy winter temperatures.

Even though some Canada Geese are resident to an area, the species itself has come to represent migration.  Flying both night and day, the flocks of family groups and individuals are witnessed by many as they move freely between Canada and Mexico.  These migrations symbolize both change, on a yearly scale, and repetition of nature’s cycles on a longer time scale.

Quite simply, the arrival of Canada Geese at the tail-end of winter is a sure symbol of the approaching spring.  In his chapter “March: The Geese Return” of A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold writes with excitement and joy about the arrival of geese on his farm: “Once touching water, our newly arrived guests set up a honking and splashing that shakes the last thought of winter out of the brittle cattails.  Our geese are home again!” (19).  Leopold’s exclamation that the geese are “home again” shows his enthusiasm for their arrival.  Not only have the birds brought spring with them, they also appear on Leopold’s farm like old friends who have returned for a visit.  The rambunctious honking of the geese, as well as the summer-like sound of their splashing on the water, chases the chill of winter out of the air.

References:

All About Birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 5 Mar. 2012. .

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949.

Peterson, Roger Tory. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008.