Canada Goose

Canada Goose, B. c. maxima, Ithaca, NY, 1 April 2005.

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

The most familiar and widespread goose in North America, the Canada Goose can be found in all kinds of water all across the continent, from the tundra to the Gulf Coast. Some populations have become resident in urban areas, and are now coming into conflict with people.

Description

• Large waterbird.
• Black head.
• Long, black neck.
• White chinstrap.
• Light tan to cream breast feathers.
• Brownish back.
• White undertail.

• Size: 76-110 cm (30-43 in)
• Wingspan: 127-170 cm (50-67 in)
• Weight: 3000-9000 g (105.9-317.7 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Call a loud "honk."

Conservation Status

Populations generally increasing over last half-century. Resident and urban populations are becoming a nuisance in some areas.

Other Names

Bernache du Canada (French)
Ganso canadiense (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• At least 11 subspecies of Canada Goose have been recognized, although only a couple are distinctive. In general, the geese get smaller as you move northward, and darker as you go westward. The four smallest forms are now considered a different species: the Cackling Goose.
• Some migratory populations of the Canada Goose are not going as far south in the winter as they used to. This northward range shift has been attributed to changes in farm practices that makes waste grain more available in fall and winter, as well as changes in hunting pressure and changes in weather.

• Individual Canada Geese from most populations make annual northward migrations after breeding. Nonbreeding geese, or those that lost nests early in the breeding season, may move anywhere from several kilometers to more than 1500 km northward. There they take advantage of vegetation in an earlier state of growth to fuel their molt. Even members of "resident" populations, which do not migrate southward in winter, will move north in late summer to molt.

• The giant Canada goose subspecies, B. canadensis maxima, formerly bred from central Manitoba to Kentucky. It was nearly driven extinct in the early 1900s. Programs to reestablish the subspecies to it original range were tremendously successful, and in fact, in some places were too successful. The numerous introductions and translocations created a number of resident populations, and the geese have become a nuisance in many urban and suburban areas.

Sources used to construct this page:

Mowbray, T. B., C. R. Ely, J. S. Sedinger, and R. E. Trost. 2002. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). In The Birds of North America, No. 682 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.