The Canada Goose is the most widespread goose in North America.
Those that wintered further south start to migrate north the earliest. They travel slowly, their advance matching the spring march north.
The young of the year migrate south with their parents, and the family unit stays together throughout the winter. In spring the yearlings follow their parents back to the nesting territory where they were born, which then form flocks with other young adults. They are one of the very few birds in which the family does not break up at the end of the breeding season.
Shortly after the breeding season, when the young are about half grown, the adult canada geese lose their flight and tail feathers. They cannot fly for about a month, until their new feathers have grown in, at about the time the young are beginning to fly.
Geese communication with a 'language.' They have at least ten different sounds, each in response to a certain situation confronting them.
Geese are essentially grazers, eating marsh grasses, winter wheat, cattails, bulrushes, etc.,
Eggs take about 28 days to hatch.
Within 24 hours of hatching the parents lead the babies to the safety of open water.
Even one day-old goslings can dive and swim for 30-40 feet underwater and eat almost continuously.
Canada Geese have been known to live 30 years.
