Juvenile Canada Goose

I saw a juvenile Canada Goose (accompanied by 2 adults) early in the summer. This might be the awkward age for Canada Geese; they're not the cute, fluffy guys they were shortly after hatching, but they also don't have the sharp black-and-white necks/heads that give the adults a handsome look. You can see this fella just starting to get it's adult plumage, and is still a little smaller than the adults. Fast forward to today, I'm thinking we'd have a hard time distinguishing it from an adult.

Canada Geese are considered to be pretty good parents. They don't have as many young as some of our ducks, so they have more time to devote to showing their individual kids how to be functioning adults.

June 25, 2021 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 141961502, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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