Canada Goose
Branta candadenis
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Characteristics:
- They have a long black neck and head with a white band on its cheeks.
- Males and females look alike but females are usually a little smaller than males.
Lifespan: 10 to 24 years in the wild.
Range and Habitat:
- The Canada goose breeds and winters in most of Canada and the United States.
- They live in lakes, bays, and marshes.
- They often feed in open fields and grasslands.
Diet:
- Grass.
- Corn, rice, and wheat.
- They use their bill to scoop up food from the mud and silt under water.
Behavior:
- While flying they honk loudly while in a large V-shaped formation.
- Male geese can be overly aggressive often attacking predators with their wings and bill.
- They migrate at a slow place.
Fun Facts:
- Female Canadian geese have lower voices than their male counterparts.
- Geese are monogamous throughout their life unless their mate dies.
Keeper Notes:
Goose, also known to some as Gary was born in 2009 and raised by a wildlife rehabilitator. He became imprinted on humans and was not able to be released back into the wild. He came to live at the zoo in the fall of 2009. He lives in the deer exhibit and can be often be seen with his fellow goose pal, Lucky.
Lucky was born in 2018 and found at a resort in Wisconsin Dells. Lucky only hatched with one wing and may not have done well in our cold Wisconsin winters without an adequate open water source and food. Lucky came to live with best buddy Gary in fall of 2018.