CANADA GOOSE BEHAVIOR



Lessons in Loyalty from Canada Geese
By: Dr. Bob McLandress

When I was 16, my father took me on a giant Canada goose hunt in southwestern Saskatchewan. Our group was led by four local ranchers and farmers who had worked diligently to restore these prairie giants to the region, bringing them back from brink of extinction. I remember being astonished at their compassion for the most majestic of Canadas. During the hunt, all of us were instructed to wait until the geese were close and to “stay on” the bird we selected from the flock until it was down. Flock shooting and crippling were not acceptable!

Today, large Canadas (both the giants of eastern North America and the westerns of our flyway) are overly abundant, and they are often scorned for their detrimental impact on golf courses, rangelands, and wetland meadows. Biologists have also found that yearling Canada geese are having a devastating impact on fragile northern tundra ecosystems. While there are too many large Canadas in North America, these geese should never be subject to our scorn. Not only are they majestic birds and challenging quarry, but their mating behavior reveals great loyalty to one another.

Most avid hunters of Canada geese know that these birds maintain tight family units, even within flocks of thousands of birds. These family ties are revealed by signals among siblings and parents. For instance, when feeding, some geese within a family (usually parents) are “alert” for trouble from predators while the rest of the family feasts. If it is time to take flight, Canada geese “head toss” a quick upward flip of the bill that makes the white check patches flash conspicuously. The behavior obviously demands attention, and it helps synchronize the direction and time of flight of all family members.

When other families move too close, ganders attack to protect their territories or food sources. Off to the side, females don’t just stand by and watch; they urge their mates on, and the direction of their movements points out which opponents they want their mates to attack.


Perhaps the most interesting Canada goose behavior is a display that is most conspicuous following a victorious confrontation with other geese. The display in which the victorious geese wave their necks and honk loudly at one another was named triumphgeshrei (triumph ceremony) by the German scientist Konrad Lorenz. Since its first description, Lorenz, Dr. Dennis Raveling, and other goose biologists have observed the display in several other situations. It occurs whenever family members have been separated by space or time. For instance, if individuals are split up within a flock, they perform the display as if greeting one another when they join. Upon awakening after a prolonged sleep, pairs and their young often triumph together. In all instances the triumph ceremony appears to be an impassioned interaction among family members, and especially between mates, that celebrates their social commitments to one another.

Folklore is filled with references to the faithfulness of Canada geese, and studies of individually marked birds have verified these astonishing loyalties. “Divorce” does occur, but it is extremely rare. Interestingly, divorced pairs were usually unsuccessful at raising young. These divorcees are often successful at raising young in new relationships.

If a mate dies, the surviving bird often exhibits a weight loss and will be submissive to other geese for several weeks following its mate’s death. These birds usually accept new mates, often with other previously paired birds, but the triumph ceremonies of these new relationships are less vigorous than triumph ceremonies of first-time mated pairs.

Canada geese without triumph ceremony partners exhibit tell-tale movements. These loners can be seen swimming or walking with their necks angled forward as if looking for lost mates. In flight, lone birds call plaintively for unknown partners.

I do not hunt Canada geese with the naïve pleasure that I did in my teens. I hunt knowing that, without a reasonable level of annual harvest, their numbers would grow too high. Because of the great respect I feel for these birds, I hunt with the compassion of my early guides who brought back the prairie giants.