The Branta Canadensis, is known more commonly as the Canada or Canadian goose. Canada goose is used the most and dates back to the 18th century after Carl Linnaeus first described the species.
In 1758, the Canada goose was included in the 10th edition of Carl Linnaeus’ book Systema Naturae, which classified animals, plants, and minerals. However, since Linnaeus was writing in Latin, he didn’t use Canada goose. Instead, he classified the bird as Anas Canadensis, an early version of Branta Canadensis or “black goose of Canada.”
The Canada goose has a long black neck with white cheeks and a black face. Its body is brown and its wings are brown with black tips. The tail end of the body is white tipped in black. It makes its home in the arctic and milder regions of North America, but has been introduced to several European countries, Nordic countries, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands.
It is primarily an herbivore, eating grains, succulents, grasses, pondweeds, and lawns in urban areas. A large waterfowl, it can weigh up to 20 pounds. Each goose has 20,000 to 25,000 feathers including flight feathers and down feathers which helps with insulation and water resistance. They sleep with one eye open, shutting down one side of the brain at a time.
The goose is highly intelligent and social. They can live for decades in the wild, and mate for life, staying with a partner for up to 25 years. They nest close to lakes, rivers, ponds, and wetlands, with dense vegetation. The nest is made of grass, moss, and reeds lined with down feathers the mother plucks herself from her breast. This insulates the eggs and maintains a stable temperature in the nest. Nesting occurs between late March to May.
The female will lay 4-7 creamy white eggs, one each day. This group of eggs is called a clutch. Once all the eggs have been laid, incubation begins and lasts 25-30 days. The female remains on the nest most of the time while the male stays nearby as a guard, protecting the nest and its territory.
Goslings imprint on the first thing they see move and learn to swim in 24 hours after hatching.
When the Canada goose migrates, they fly in a V-shaped flight formation, an energy efficient form of flight that breaks the headwind for the birds behind. They can fly 10-50 miles per hour, but can fly as much as 70 miles per hour with a strong tailwind. They typically fly 40 miles per hour during migration. They fly in groups of 30-100 birds, traveling 2,000-3,000 miles during the winter. They can, weather permitting, fly 1,500 miles per day. In the spring, they return to their birthplace. They have adapted to urban and suburban areas and often stay year-round in parks, golf courses, and farmland. In the early 1900s, the Canada goose was decimated due to hunting and habitat loss, but has bounced back with a current population of over five million.
Geese are known for their aggressive behavior, but the Canada goose is largely harmless, bluffing rather than confronting against predators and humans.
Sources: grammarphobia.com/blog/2015/04/Canada-goose; birdfact.com/articles/Canada-goose-nesting; in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/hunting-and-trapping/Canada-geese-management/behavior-and-biology
Did You Know?
The oldest recorded wild Canada Goose was at least 33 years old.