Things you need to know about CANADA GEESE!

What do Canada geese eat they eat, where do they live, when do they nest, how long do they live for? All this and more covered in this Canada goose Fact-file.
Here's the script:
The Canada goose is the largest widespread goose that is found in the UK. They have wingspan of up to 1.8 metres and can weigh as much as 6 and a half kilos. They have a black tail and legs, a white patch under their tail, a white rump when they fly and slate grey wings. Their head and neck markings are very distinctive being black with a vibrant white chinstrap. Just like other species of goose, males are known as ganders and although from their plumage they are identical to the females they are usually slightly larger.
As their name suggests, Canada geese are not a native species and were first introduced to the UK from their native north America in 1665. Over the following 100 years they were deliberately and accidentally introduced across the country and they have also been introduced to mainland Europe, Russia and Asia. In their native range most Canada geese used to be migratory, sometimes travelling thousands of miles each winter, but they are now predominantly resident. Birds in the UK do sometimes move to better feeding grounds in the winter but they have no fixed migratory route and it is thought that those in England never cross paths with birds just 26 miles away in France.
Just like most other geese, a Canada gooses diet mainly consists of aquatic vegetation, grass, insects, Molluscs and other invertebrates. In Urban areas people also feed them with scraps, bread and seeds.
Canada geese usually start nesting when they are 2 to three years old when they form a monogamous pair. The female then creates a large bowl shaped nest of vegetation lined with feathers, usually between march and April. This will be on the ground and within close reach of water. She’ll lay between 2 and 12 light cream coloured eggs that measure around 8 and a half centimetres in length. The gander guards the nest whilst the female does all of the incubation and after 25 to 28 days the chicks, which are known as goslings hatch. At first they are covered in a layer of fluffy yellow to green down, they have their eyes open and are able to walk and feed themselves straight away. Once all of the goslings have hatched, their parents lead them away from the nest and to the relative safety of the water. Sometimes, when several pairs nest close to one another, they may accidentally adopt the young of other geese, resulting in one pair looking after far more goslings than they have produced. The young grow fast and are heavily protected by their parents, or adopted parents, until they can fly at around 10 weeks old. Family groups often stay together over the winter, before the young move off in the following spring. Canada geese usually only nest once in a season but if their nest is destroyed, they can nest a second time within 12 months. They will also mate for life but only if their breeding efforts are successful, if they have one or more failed nesting seasons it isn’t unusual for a pair to split and find new mates.
There are currently an estimated 190,000 Canada geese in the UK and over the past 5 years these numbers have remained relatively stable. In the wild they have an average lifespan of around 6 years but one bird made it to 33 years and 3 months before being shot and in captivity they can live even longer than that. There are multiple records of captive birds living to beyond 40 years of age and several online sources even suggest they can live for up to 80 years. I think someone must have made a typo and then been copied a few times as that number is far higher than I'm able to believe.
#birds #nature #britishwildlife

Some of the footage and images used in this video was obtained using creative commons licences, the originals and their licence details can be found at:
   • Canada Geese in Hitchin - April 2013  
   • Angry Canada Geese in Victoria Park K...  
   • Bird Stock Footage - Canada Goose (Br...  
   • Canada geese family  
   • Canada geese feeding  
   • Feeding Canada geese  
   • Canada goose family  
   • Canada Goose and Goslings  
   • Canada Geese Goslings  
   • Canada geese by a pond  
   • Canada Goose  
   • Canadian geese 2  
   • Canada Geese Family  
   • young Canadian geese feeding  
   • Canada Geese Family:  Wait for the ru...  
   • Canada Goose pair with eighteen gosli...  
   • Nest building time  
   • Canada goose incubating egg  
Nest: Notts exminer CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Nest 2: https://www.rawpixel.com/image/593790...
Thumbnail: "Canada Goose" by SidPix is licensed under CC BY