Canada Goose (Branta canadensis): Facts, Migration and Habitat

Appearance: how to identify a Canada goose

A Canada goose is hard to mistake. The head and long neck are black, with a bold white patch running from cheek to cheek under the chin. The back and wings are gray-brown, the breast is pale tan to brown, and the rump and undertail are white. In flight, a narrow white band shows across the base of the black tail.

Males and females look alike, though females are usually about 10 percent smaller. Goslings are covered in yellow-green to grayish down for their first weeks.

Only two other geese share the black neck and white chinstrap: the cackling goose, a smaller close relative, and the barnacle goose of Europe, which has a white face and a black breast.

The cackling goose split

For most of the 20th century, small, short-necked geese breeding in the Arctic were treated as subspecies of the Canada goose. In 2004 the American Ornithologists’ Union split them off as a separate species, the cackling goose (Branta hutchinsii), and British ornithologists followed in 2005. The two species overlap in size and are still a classic identification challenge, especially in mixed winter flocks.

Size: how big is a Canada goose?

Canada geese vary more in size than almost any other wild bird. Seven subspecies are generally recognized, from the lesser Canada goose to the giant Canada goose of the Midwest.

The giant Canada goose (B. c. maxima) is the largest. Its males rarely exceed 8 kg (18 lb), but one exceptional male weighed 10.9 kg (24 lb) and had a wingspan of 2.24 m (7 ft 4 in), the heaviest wild goose on record. On average, the Canada goose is the largest of the “true geese” (the genera Branta and Anser).

Habitat and range

Canada geese breed across Canada, Alaska and the northern half of the United States, in habitats from Arctic tundra and boreal marshes to prairie potholes, rivers and city ponds. They nearly always nest close to water and feed on open ground with a clear view.

In winter, migratory populations move south to the central and southern United States and northern Mexico. Large resident flocks now live all year in many places, from British Columbia to California, around the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast as far south as Florida.

Canada geese in Europe and beyond

Canada geese were brought to Europe as ornamental birds. Pairs were sent to France in the early 17th century, and in the late 17th century geese were added to a royal waterfowl collection in St James’s Park, London. Feral populations later became established in Britain, Ireland and France, and in the 20th century geese were released in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

In Britain the population grew rapidly after the 1950s, and the country now holds well over 100,000 Canada geese in winter. Most European Canada geese do not migrate far, although birds from northern Sweden and Finland move to the Baltic and North Sea coasts in winter. Canada geese were also introduced to New Zealand in 1905, and a few wild migrants from North America reach western Europe with other Arctic geese.

Diet: what do Canada geese eat?

Canada geese are herbivores. On land they graze grasses, sedges, clover and other green shoots, grasping a blade with the bill and tearing it with a jerk of the head. They also eat seeds, berries and grain such as wheat, corn and rice left in fields after harvest. In water, they dip their heads and necks to pull up aquatic plants and algae.

Short, mown grass suits them perfectly, which is one reason lawns beside ponds attract so many geese. A goose cannot chew; its saw-edged bill and a muscular gizzard do the work instead, as explained in do birds have teeth?.

Migration and the V formation

The honking V of Canada geese crossing the sky is a classic sign of spring and fall. Fall migration runs mostly from September into November, and spring migration from about February to April. Families migrate together, and young geese learn the route and stopover sites from their parents.

Migrating flocks usually fly at around 1 km (3,000 ft) above the ground, though they can go much higher. The V shape saves energy, because each bird rides the rising air from the wingtip of the bird ahead; why geese fly in a V formation explains the science.

Not all Canada geese migrate anymore. Many park and suburban flocks stay put all year, while others still make long journeys from the Arctic. The reasons are covered in do Canada geese migrate?.

Behavior and communication

Canada geese are social outside the breeding season and gather in flocks of dozens to thousands. They communicate with around ten distinct calls. The familiar “honk” is the male’s call, while the female answers with a shorter, higher “hrink”, so a pair calling together sounds like one rapid, two-tone call.

When threatened, a goose stretches its neck low and forward, opens its bill and hisses. Paired males defend their territory fiercely in spring, which is why geese have a reputation for aggression; see why are geese so aggressive?.

Reproduction and life cycle

Canada geese usually pair up in their second year, and most pairs stay together for life. They return to the same nesting area year after year.

The female builds a shallow bowl of grass, sedges and other plants on raised ground near water, such as a small island, a riverbank or even the top of a beaver lodge, and lines it with her own down.

• Eggs: 2–9, usually about 5, creamy white.
• Incubation: 24–32 days, by the female, while the male stands guard nearby.
• Goslings: walk, swim and feed themselves within a day of hatching.
• First flight: at about 6–9 weeks old.

Parents lead their goslings in a line, often with one adult in front and one behind. Several families sometimes merge into a large group called a crèche, watched over by a few adults. The adults molt their flight feathers in summer and cannot fly for 20–40 days, regaining flight at about the same time as their young. Families stay together through the first fall migration and winter.

Lifespan and predators

Canada geese that survive to adulthood usually live 10 to 24 years in the wild. The oldest known wild individual was a female banded in Ohio in 1969 and recorded at about 33 years old. In Britain, one goose banded as a chick was seen alive at the University of York at 31.

Eggs and goslings are taken by coyotes, foxes, raccoons, large gulls, crows, ravens, bears and, in Europe, mink and otters. Adults are large and aggressive enough to have few predators besides people, but coyotes, gray wolves, golden and bald eagles and snowy owls can kill them.

Myths and facts

Myth: Canada geese are an invasive species in North America. They are native across the continent. What changed is where they live: restocking programs, especially of the giant subspecies, and the spread of lawns and ponds created large year-round flocks in places where geese once appeared only on migration. In Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and New Zealand, however, they really are introduced.

Myth: all Canada geese fly south for the winter. Many still do, but millions now stay in cities and suburbs all year, as long as they can find open water and grass.

Myth: a goose that loses its mate dies of grief. Canada geese do form strong, lasting pair bonds, and a widowed goose may stay alone for a time, but many find a new partner, often within a season or two.

Fact: both parents guard the young. The male stands watch during incubation and both adults defend the goslings, which is why a family of geese can be so bold.

Conservation status

The Canada goose is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Its story is one of decline and dramatic recovery. By the early 20th century, overhunting and the loss of wetlands had reduced many populations, and the giant Canada goose was thought to be extinct until a small flock was found wintering in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1962.

Hunting regulations, wetland protection and restocking programs brought the species back. The North American population was estimated at 4 to 5 million birds in 2000 and has grown in many regions since, especially in towns and suburbs.

Canada geese and people

The Canada goose is a symbol of Canada and a familiar part of North American life. Its abundance in cities also causes conflicts: droppings on lawns and beaches, damage to crops and grass, aggressive birds near nests, and collisions with aircraft. In 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 lost power in both engines after hitting a flock of Canada geese and landed safely on the Hudson River in New York.

Wildlife agencies generally advise people not to feed geese, because handouts encourage large flocks to gather in one place and lose their wariness. Like the related mute swan, the Canada goose shows how a large waterbird can thrive alongside people, sometimes too well.