Mother (Canada) Goose

For Mother's Day, here's a Canada Goose family I met last week at Lord Stirling Park. Technically I can't be sure the mother was in this picture - there was a 3rd adult Canada Goose that wasn't in the picture - but there's a 2/3 chance at least 1 of these was a mother goose [1].

My impression is that geese are considered to be pretty good parents. Compared to ducks, they tend to have smaller broods but devote more time and energy into raising them. And overall they seem to be doing a good job; our Canada Goose population has been rising steadily since the mid-60s [2].

May 12, 2023 at Lord Stirling Park

[1] Finding a mother goose is also harder since Canada Geese are not sexually dimorphic; males and females are phenotypically very similar, or sexually monomorphic.

[2] They might be doing a little too well. Just the volume of their bodily waste probably has negative consequences in high population areas.


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