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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 |
Food Canada geese eat Bermuda grass, salt grass, wild barley, wheat, beans, rice, corn, eel grass, sea lettuce, sago (Lutz 1995, paragraph 4), and soybeans (Raveling, 1969). They establish social hierarchies between families to improve foraging efficiency and reduce aggressive confrontations (Shultz, et al. 1988). Availability is the primary factor in determining what they eat. Roost and nest sites are usually located near food sources such as agricultural crops (Raveling, 1969). The geese utilize agricultural crops to such an extent that they are considered a nuisance at times. The general feeding pattern is to feed in the morning and late afternoon, with mid-day and nights spent at the roost site (Raveling, 1969), except for incubating females. Females at this time will leave the nest at the above mentioned times only briefly (Bellrose 1980, 160).
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