The bird has a point

Canada Goose Facts

Canada geese have adapted unusually well to cities. Closely cut grass, open water, and few predators give them much of what they need, often beside the same paths people are trying to use.

Canada geese deserve serious consideration

Urban habitat

Short grass beside open water gives Canada geese food, visibility, and a quick route of escape. Parks, golf courses, and stormwater ponds often reproduce these conditions quite efficiently.

Formation flying

Canada geese commonly migrate in lines or V-formations. The formation lets birds take advantage of air moving from the wings ahead of them, reducing the work required during a long flight.

Family groups

Canada geese usually form long-term pair bonds. Both parents guard their goslings, and families often remain together through the first winter.

Defensive behaviour

A goose defending a nest or goslings may lower its head, hiss, spread its wings, or charge. These are warnings. Giving the bird room is generally more useful than arguing with it.

Moulting

Adults replace their flight feathers each summer and cannot fly for several weeks. The timing usually overlaps with the period when goslings are still unable to fly, keeping the family on foot together.

Resident and migratory birds

Some populations migrate long distances. Others remain in the same region when food and open water are available through winter. A Canada goose on a city lawn is therefore not necessarily passing through.

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