Canada goose

Canada goose, (Branta canadensis), a brown-backed, light-breasted North American goose with a black head and neck. It has white cheeks that flash when the bird shakes its head before taking flight. Along with ducks, swans, and other geese, the Canada goose belongs to the family Anatidae of the waterfowl order Anseriformes. The various subspecies of Canada goose range in size from 2 kg (4.4 pounds) in the cackling goose (B. canadensis minima) to about 6.5 kg (14.3 pounds) in mature males of the giant Canada goose (B. canadensis maxima). The latter has a wingspread of up to 2 metres (6.6 feet), second in size only to that of the trumpeter swan among common waterfowl. Once a symbol of the North American wilderness, Canada geese are now common pests and airport hazards that are often evicted from park ponds.

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Canada geese breed across North America, including Canada and Alaska during the warmer months, then winter mainly in the southern United States and Mexico. Throughout much of the United States there are also nonmigratory (resident) populations. During their fall migrations, they slice the sky in V-formations, each population adhering to a rigid migratory path with traditional stopover and wintering areas. Strong, swift fliers, they can cover 2,400 km (1,500 miles) in 24 hours when riding wind currents. The V-formation conserves energy by allowing the geese to take advantage of air currents (vortices) created by the wingtips of the bird ahead. They call to one another as they fly, their honking chorus sounding at a distance like a pack of hounds.

Although lakes, ponds, marshes, and fields are the environments in which Canada geese naturally live, golf courses, airports, and parks provide attractive habitat because of their lawns. Canada geese are almost exclusively plant eaters, and the bill is serrated for efficient grazing on short grasses. In urban and suburban areas their increased numbers are sometimes unwelcome because 50 geese can produce 2.5 tons of manure in one year. Some golf courses and landowners take measures such as hiring border collies to chase the birds off.

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At the turn of the 20th century Canada geese were feared to be nearing extinction in many areas. Since then, because of the Migratory Bird Convention Act, the institution of refuges, the proliferation of lawns in the eastern United States, and agriculture in the Midwest, the birds have become numerous to the point of being derided as “pond starlings” and “Canada rats.” The release of decoy birds to attract migratory geese to hunters’ gunsights also has established a large, nonmigratory population in the eastern United States. At the beginning of the 21st century the resident population was estimated at about one million birds and increasing. Canada geese were introduced into England for sport and as ornamental waterfowl in the 17th century and, subsequently, into other northern European countries.