Chapter 6 - Geese

Canada Goose | White-Fronted Goose | American Brant | Black Brant | Blue Goose

From a distance the Canada goose is easily identified. His body is brown, neck and head black, but his head wears a triangular white patch. He is the biggest of our geese, and is found either as a resident or a migrator over most of the United States.

In the spring and fall, he is seen flying very high in great long wedges to and from his wintering and summer breeding grounds, coming down into city parks, reservations and sanctuaries for a rest period and for food.

Their voices are strong as they are heard uttering a loud resonant "honk" in flight or on the water. While feeding, or together on a pond, they talk in little intimate cries and grunts.

This is the hunter's bird, being the most sought after of the geese. As a result "Canada" has become exceedingly wary, putting down only after having scanned and circled the area with much care. Their sharp eyes can quickly spot a hunter and the best of blinds can be discovered. Second only to the wild swans, the Canada is a big bird on the dinner table, weighing from seven to fourteen pounds, with a wing spread of between five and 6V^ feet.

Contrary to the ducks, which seek new mates each season, the Canada goose is supposed to mate for life. Should either partner die or be killed, it is said that the mate never "remarries." Just why Mother Nature chose to make this arrangement, no one knows, but she must have had her reasons. Certainly this is a drawback to the numbers of the Canada. A certain amount of good can be done by raising these gallant game birds and stocking areas with them, and in fact this is being done in many sections of the country. The biggest cause of death to these birds is not the hunter, but pollution of the waters in which it lands along its flight routes. Development of wetlands and shore property have lessened the areas of comparative remoteness where "Honkers" will consider landing. They simply will not come down where there are signs of civilization, unless it is a sanctuary. They can spot such a safe spot by looking over the other birds on the water and will feel safe in landing.

Jack Minor of Kingston, Ontario, was the first to recognize the need for sanctuaries for this grand game bird. Starting with the small pond on his property, he fed the geese during the migration seasons until tremendous flights of them would return to his care each year. The sanctuary has grown in size and has been financed, for the feeding bill for these birds is enormous. Others have followed in his footsteps, so that the Canada is assured at least a few spots where it is safe. Banding has helped to discover their migrations.

This goose generally nests on the ground near the water. The type of nest depends on the locality. It is usually a slight depression in the ground lined with material from the vicinity such as sticks, flag grass and soft grey down from the goose's breast. At other times the nests are large bulky affairs. In some parts of the country when the terrain demands, the nests are in trees, but never far from the water and preferably right above it.

During the breeding season the gander, or male goose shows off his staunchness as the family guard and defender. If you approach the nest they will at first look at you with contempt. Come closer and they will become alarmed and hiss, wave their powerful wings and be ready to pick a fight. The author has had many a battle with them without so much as provoking one, so true to their cause do they become when an intruder comes by. Don't underestimate their powerful wings; they can knock you down very easily and, even though they have no teeth in their bills, they are sharp, and if they bite you, the cut can be quite severe.

Unlike the ducks, both parents are quite taken up with caring for the young. When swimming on the water, the gander usually leads, the little ones follow and then mother takes up the tail of the parade.

Their food is largely vegetable matter. They love to graze in the stubble fields and the prairies. Pasture lands are their pleasure, particularly during the fall migration, for they burn up a great deal of energy during the flight, which must be replaced. Quite often, clouds of them will descend on a farmer's corn field, even though there is little or no water nearby. They have been known to be quite destructive in this habit.

The Canada is one of the earliest water birds to migrate northward in the spring. How it is they know that the ice is melted from the lakes, when they are wintering one or two thousand miles south, is a mystery, but they know it and proceed.

After the summer molt they become quite inactive. Then they begin to gain back their flight feathers, begin to assemble in flocks and become restless. On a cool night when the winds are right, they will take off on the first leg of a long journey, husbands and wives flying together. They are masters at knowing flight patterns and wind resistance. Their flying wedge is so designed that the lead goose breaks the currents for the rest of the wedge. After a spell, the lead goose drops back to the end of the line and

the succession continues so that no bird takes the brunt of the wind. 

While very rare on the East Coast and the eastern half of the continent, the white-fronted goose are comparatively abundant throughout the West. The breeding range is in the polar regions all the way around, so they are also found in Europe and Asia. In our land they are known as the "laughing geese," due to their peculiar laugh-cry sound, as it is heard while they are in flight as well as on the ground or water. In Europe they winter around the Mediterranean and, in our hemisphere, in and around the Gulf and the southern states.

Like the Canada geese, they seem to time their arrival in the north to just when the ice is out and the farmer's fields are beginning to grow tender shoots of grain and corn. They also feed on heath berries. Their mating season is generally over by the end of May and a nest filled with as many as five to seven eggs will be laid. The male does not desert the female in the family processes, but stands by at all times to do his duty. These geese are difficult to conserve, because the northern people go after them for food, especially when they are molting and cannot fly.

Some unseen and unknown force sets the white-fronted geese off for the-southward migration long before many of the other waterfowl. Great flights of them will be coming down in California well in advance of the rest. Their flight is a modified V and sometimes great flocks of them will assemble behind the flying wedge that is breaking the wind force. They fly quite high to avoid the ground currents and also the hunters.

It is not definitely known whether they, like the Canada geese, mate for life, though there seems to be much evidence in the favor of the belief, for it seems to be a common characteristic of geese.

They are an easy bird to identify on the ground or in flight. Their head and entire neck is brownish grey with a white band around the front of the face. Their body is greyish brown. The belly and flanks are white speckled with irregular dark brown splotches.

As is the case with all migratory waterfowl, they are protected by federal regulations as to hunting. The states adapt these dates to their situation along with bag limits. They are quite easy to bring down to a set of decoys. When the day comes and you have your camera ready, a flight of these birds zooming in on powerful wings against a crisp blue sky backed by the haze of far-off mountains will make a picture you will treasure.

There are several other geese that are somewhat similar in size, coloring and habits such as the emperor, found mostly in Alaska, the tule goose, found mainly in California, the lesser snow goose, of the Great Lakes region and the greater snow goose found along the Middle Atlantic states. The whitefront was selected for our study because of its extreme popularity and the fact that it is representative of the group.

The American brant and its close cousin, the black brant, are a sort of half-way measure in size between the largest of the geese and the usual ducks. They appear on the water as very small dark geese with short blackish necks and whitish sides. They sit very lightly on the water with tail upraised and the flight half of the wings pointed upwards, somewhat in the fashion of the teal ducks.

Brant are also called the white-bellied brant. They are a true sea goose, seldom found very far away from the salt water. They are rarely found on the Pacific Coast, and the American's flight pattern is from Labrador to Florida and into the West Indies, though seldom moving farther south in the mass than the Carolinas.

The black is strictly a West Coast migrant, seldom if ever being found East of the California mountains.

American brant nest in the Far North and are found in company with eider ducks. The nest is of local materials such as mosses and lichens, with a plentiful lining of breast down feathers to ward off the northern cool breezes found there even in the summer.

The number of eggs varies from three to eight. As soon as the young can stand on their webbed feet they are drawn to the salt water as if by a magnet, the mothers and fathers aiding them to do so. At once they begin to feed and fend for themselves.

Brant do not usually fly in V-shape flocks but bunch together. Their trip is not as far as the Canada, and they do not generally fly as high.

At the table the brant, in the opinion of epicures, is one of our finest game birds, despite the fact that they feed and live in the salt water. Their northern feed consists of grass, algae, moss and stalks and leaves of arctic plants. Farther south they tend to feed on grass shoots, roots and other vegetation.

They generally start the southward migration along the East Coast in early September but head back again from their Carolina sites as early as March.

Flights of these birds can be seen in the sanctuaries along the East Coast in spring and fall. They are not hunted to any great degree, except in a few isolated places. While not a dramatically marked bird, they do make good camera subjects. They should certainly be among the birds seen and identified on your bird list.

If you live in the path of the blue goose, it will be no trouble to find during the migrating and nesting season, for it winters on the coast of Louisiana, and covers the territory of the general Mississippi valley, flying as tar north as Manitoba and James Bay.

On the water it appears as a medium-sized goose, readily identifiable by its white neck and head and dark body. In flight they are even easier to identify because of the great color contrast. They fly in modified V's and bunches. Their call, particularly in the air, is a high-pitched whistle and chatter of high notes.

This is one goose which has increased in numbers during the past few years. Their habits are similar to the other geese mentioned in this book.

A good way to find the best times to see these and other migratory waterfowl is to study the game laws and discover the open hunting areas, as well as the sanctuaries. You can go there with your camera and glasses and see this grand game bird. There is a certain majesty about geese that no other game bird seems to display. Watching them descend on the water, or take off, bunch together -and assemble a flight pattern is something to observe. Here you will witness true organization at its best.

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