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Kingdom: Animalia
Canada Goose |
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Description
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Author: Lawson Dennis Site created by: Rachael McCormick Site Maintained by: Dr. Mark Wallace |
Nesting Mating lasts from early March to June (Lutz 1995, paragraph 5). The clutch size ranges from 2 to 9 eggs with an average of 5 eggs (Lutz 1995, paragraph 5). The female incubates the eggs for 25-28 days while the male defends the nest (Lutz 1995, paragraph 5). Sex ratios for the clutch are usually 50:50 (Lutz 1995, paragraph 5).
When available, Canada geese will nest the same area, but if high water, snow, or some other nest site disturbance prevents using the same area they will seek a new site (Bellrose 1980, 159). Nest site selection tends to vary including marshes (especially islands and peninsulas), tundra, and cliffs, and sometimes man-made sites like haystacks, washtubs, wicker-baskets, artificial platforms designed for nesting geese (Bellrose 1980, 159), plains grasses, and trees. Factors in nest site selection include proximity to water, nest cover, and visibility of their surroundings (Bellrose 1980, 159).
Nest construction is a process of wallowing out a depression in the earth (Lutz 1995, paragraph 13) or on a mat of bulrushes (Bellrose 1980, 160), grasses, and/or litter. Earth depressions are lined with vegetation. As the egg laying process begins, down is plucked from the breast for additional lining (Bellrose 1980, 160). Nest dimensions vary within and across subspecies with larger species having larger nests. The nests of Giant Canada geese range from 43 – 122 cm (17” – 48”) for outside diameter, 23 – 28 cm (9” – 11”) for inside diameter, and 8 – 15 cm (3” – 6”) in depth, while nests of the smaller Western Canada goose exhibit nest dimensions of 38 – 76 cm (15” – 30”) for outside diameter, 15 – 33 cm (6” – 13”) in inside diameter, and a nest depth of 5 – 13 cm (2” –5”) (Bellrose1980, 160). Nest success averages around 70% (Bellrose 1980, 161). Nest success may be a density dependent factor. As nest density increases, nest desertion may increase due to harassment from nearby geese. Other factors which may lead to desertion are the presence of predators, human activity, and inclement weather. Bellrose (1980, 161) reports that 48.2% of nest failures are due to predators, with desertion and nest destruction by other natural agents accounting for 42.6% and 9.2% of remaining nest failures respectively.
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