Canada Goose

Quick Facts About Canada Geese

Scientific Name	Branta canadensis
Common Name(s)	Canada Goose
Animal Type	Bird, Swimming Waterbird
Diet	Aquatic plants, insects, seeds
Found	Year-round in North Carolina around lakes, marshes, and ponds. Often feeds on land, in open grasslands and mowed areas near water.
Description	Large bird; grows up to 45 inches (1.14 meters) tall. Brownish body with long, black neck and black legs. Black head has conspicuous white cheek patch. Black eyes and beak. Large, black webbed feet.

Male and female Canada Geese look identical. The best way to tell them apart is by their behavior and by the noises they make.

Male Canada Geese stand sentinel over their females and goslings and can become aggressive if approached too closely.
- Canada Geese stretch their necks out straight, spread their wings, and hiss loudly, all while running straight towards perceived threats. This threat display can be rather alarming, considering the size of these birds.

Female Canada Geese are also territorial during nesting season but they are far less aggressive than their mates.
- Female Canada Geese defend the immediate area around their nest sites rather than the surrounding area.

Interestingly enough, territorial boundaries dissolve almost completely once the baby Canada Geese hatch.
- Both parents guard the goslings carefully but allow other geese into close proximity, without the aggressive defense mounted during mating and nesting.
- The switch happens very quickly—often seemingly overnight.

The calls that Canada Geese make vary by sex.
- Male Canada Geese give a two-part call that sounds like a low-pitched “aHONK”.
- Female Canada Geese give a short, single syllable call that is higher-pitched and sounds like “hink”.
Either sex will call when alone and sufficiently motivated. But for a relatively common but really extraordinary experience, listen to the calls these birds make when a male and female Canada Goose are together.
- When a mated pair greets each other after a separation, the male and female alternate their calls in an incredibly precise, rhythmic pattern, like a call-and-response.
- Male and female Canada Geese also alternate calls when in flight.
In both situations, male and female Canada Geese call with such precise rhythm that many listeners think only one goose is making noise.
So, the real question is, which came first? The “aHONK” or the “hink”?

Despite being large waterfowl that spend a lot of time swimming, Canada Geese are generally considered to eat only plants and insects.
However, a series of observations published in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology documented several instances of Canada Geese actively hunting fish.
- In one observation, scientists observed “at least three different individual geese capturing fish from below the water surface, by completely submerging their head and neck” while other nearby geese chased the fish-bearing birds and tried to steal the fish away.
- During another visit to the same location, the scientists observed another two Canada Geese successfully hunt and eat fish (Muir et al. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1676/16-197.1).