April 7, 2000

     Canada Goose is most Numerous

The Canada goose has become the most numerous goose species in North America; the snow goose used to be.  The giant race of the Canada goose shares the Twin Cities area and other parts of Minnesota with us.  Male giants weigh 14 to 16 pounds and females 10 to 12 pounds.  Smaller types of Canada geese can weigh a little over 5 pounds.

Nesting sites usually are chosen in March and eggs are laid in late March or April.  Egg laying is triggered by open water.  The female chooses the nest's location, generally close to where she was hatched.  The nest is usually near water, and preferably on a small island, a muskrat house or beaver lodge.

Using grasses, reeds and leaves, the female builds a nest around herself.  She alone will incubate the usual five or six eggs, although clutch sizes vary from one to 10 eggs.  Normally 28 days after the last egg is laid the young hatch, all on the same day, and are ready to leave the nest within hours of hatching.  During the nesting period the female will lose 25 to 30 percent of her body weight because of the fasting that incubation imposes.

Many times, the only indication of a nest is the outstretched head of the male standing guard.  Hidden in the grasses, the female maintains a low profile with her neck down, while the male makes sure that late-arriving geese do not enter the territory and that foxes, raccoons, and other potential predators of the eggs are driven off.  Females also will help defend against predators.  Males do not incubate but they are so essential that if killed during the incubation period, the female will give up the nest.

Soon after hatching, both parents lead their brood of 4-ounce, downy, yellow and brown goslings across a waterway to a safe hillside on which to graze on tender new blades of grass.