Canadian Goose
The Canadian goose is very large goose species, with a white face and chest, dark throat, and white under the chin, as well as a black mask on the head. It’s native to many temperate and arctic regions of North America, with its migration sometimes reaching northern Europe.
The Canadian goose is usually found in swamps, marshes, and riverbeds, but it also frequents open woodlands, farm fields, parks, cemeteries, and forested areas. The Canadian goose will travel long distances to find food, including small animals and birds such as songbirds, waterfowl, insects, and even smaller birds such as cardinals. Canadian geese are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animal meat. Their diet is quite diverse, although birds that have a small flight need to be avoided like cardinals.
They can fly for several hundred miles each day, although they normally feed when low to the ground, where it is difficult for other larger birds or humans to get at them. During migration, they also stop eating and may remain inactive for a few days. The female Canada goose has a large pouch on her belly called the hemmerect or “penis pouch” during this time, where she stores the eggs.
During migration, the Canadian goose feeds mainly on all types of birds, not just on one type, so that the goose can lay the maximum number of eggs. Although the goose will lay more eggs in warmer climates, they will still lay more eggs when it’s colder. Because the goose has to travel so far to get to the food, it tends to lose weight as it travels. It’s important for a goose’s well-being to stay in good shape throughout the migration season, so that its metabolism will be high and energy reserves will be high as well.
During the migration season, the migration routes and times can change as well. Although the migration route usually stays fairly consistent over the years, the migration routes will vary from year to year depending on the availability of food, the weather, the availability of breeding grounds, the migratory patterns of birds of prey, and predators, etc. Many scientists believe that the migration routes in Canada may have been changed by an ice age, because some birds seem to prefer to migrate southward rather than northward.
The male goose’s scent glands secrete a musk which attracts other male geese and females in the area. The female goose then uses this mask to mark its territory and mark its eggs, as well as marking her territory. The scent glands are sensitive enough to pick up human scent, which makes for a great attract mode to attract other geese and women. This is why the Canadian goose and Canada goose quills are made from human sweat. The goose’s name comes from the fact that it was thought to have been named after an early Canadian who used quill feathers.
While the Canada goose is found across many regions of the country in the winter, it prefers to winter in the western half of the continent and migrate southward in the spring. In the spring, the goose will head towards the Arctic, then return to Canada in the fall.
Because of the many species of goose that exist, including several species of the Canadian goose, the goose population is constantly fluctuating, changing as a result of migration, environmental factors, etc. While there are several different breeds, they tend to crossbreed very rarely due to their different traits. Some characteristics that seem to crossbreed most frequently between the various goose types are their intelligence, their need for water and protection, their flight ability, their song, their coloration, their mating habits, their reproductive system, etc.