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A few nights ago, I was fortunate to catch a wonderful and enlightening documentary on PBS's Nature series called, "Animal Homes -- The Nest." The link is included below and highly recommended to watch. It is sure to bring smile, amazement and wonder:
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While the documentary focuses on those birds who go to extraordinary lengths to construct intricate and nearly "bullet proof" nests (or in some cases, take advantage of nests created by other birds), no attention was paid to Canada geese.
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Perhaps that is because Canada geese don't go to particular fuss in constructing their nests. A few twigs and leaves, a lot of plucked down from the female's chest and that is about it for most nesting goose hens.
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But, that is not to say that geese don't go to extraordinary lengths and preparation in the weeks leading up to nesting. -- Just like birds constructing fantastic forts of twigs, branches mud and other materials. House building and keeping however, just doesn't seem to be the goose's thing.
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Of the many ways geese prepare for nesting, the first is establishing territory.
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That means "cutting the apron strings" of juvenile offspring hatched the year before. As goslings usually stay with the parents for nearly a full year, when spring rolls around, the parents must push the adult kids out in order to nest again. Young, unpaired and non-nesting geese then form (group) gaggles and tend to pond hop and stay with each other while taking special care to avoid the areas that nesting geese have claimed as breeding territory.
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Currently we are seeing this in Central Park now as returned nesters (i.e. "Alpha goose pairs") have claimed territories at Harlem Meer (Napoleon and Josephine), the west and east sides of the Reservoir (John and Mary and Hansel and Greta), Turtle Pond (Laura and Larry) and presumably, the Boat Lake (Man and Lady).
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Meanwhile, subordinate and non-nesting resident geese have formed small groups who, for the moment, appear to be enjoying the scenery at the Boat Lake though taking care to avoid the far north west area where Man and Lady might likely nest again. If the dominant pair do actually nest again, it is likely Man will begin to take far more aggressive actions to clear the other geese out. So far, Man has been tacitly accepting the other geese which raises some doubt as to whether he and his mate are preparing to nest again. Much remains to be seen.
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There is however, no doubt the other geese mentioned will nest again and are in full preparation for such now.
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Preparation for nesting is however, not just about claiming and establishing territory.
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Its also about "calorie loading" for the female goose.
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Female geese intent on nesting virtually have to eat everything in sight. While directing their nearly 24/7 focus to building nutritional reserves, their ganders are posted on 24/7 "guard." While the female eats, the male's duty is to watch for any potential "threat" and to run off any birds or other animals who might compete with the goose hen for food or otherwise annoy or get in her way.
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The other night for example, it was amusing to watch a few mallards attempt to grab some food treats from Mary at the Reservoir. John (her gander) immediately rushed over to give a hard peck to the butt of one mallard drake -- an action that sent all four mallards quickly bolting for the water. John then held on tightly to the wad of duck down in his mouth as if to victoriously proclaim, "There, let THAT be a lesson to you to you little snipes!" Sure, the attack appeared a bit mean, but John was only doing his job. Mary was undoubtedly very proud of him.
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The reason female goose hens need to ravenously eat prior to nesting, is that unlike other birds who will leave nests in order to eat, once laying and incubating all their eggs, female geese rarely, if ever leave their nests at all (save perhaps for a quick dip in the water). Typically a laying goose hen loses up to 25% of her body weight when nesting for a period of 28 days -- until her eggs hatch.
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So yes, in geese as other birds, the annual rituals of nesting are complex, taxing and require virtually all of their focus and energy. As geese are "flock birds," there appears to also be complex social structure placement and hierarchy involved in determining which geese actually nest and which don't. (This appears true in most, if not all "group" animals, whether flock, pack, herd or colony. As we learn more about social structures in group animals, it raises important questions regarding the effectiveness and long range impacts of so-called, "culling programs" or even rampant programs of egg destruction as these appear to target mostly "alpha" animals and/or pairs. A recent study on feral cats, for example, determined that culling programs actually increased population over time for their negative impacts upon social and hierarchy order among cats. http://www.animals24-7.org/2015/04/11/culling-cats-increases-the-feral-population-australian-study-finds/.)
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As previously noted, I have particular concerns over the yearly addling (i.e. rendering unviable) of all known goose eggs in Central Park, as long range impacts are not yet fully known. Will these actions ultimately result in the elimination of resident geese in Central Park as there will be no new geese to replace those lost to attrition over the years? Or will the geese eventually "adapt" to the predations by more and subordinate pairs attempting to breed and/or attempting to breed in unusual and inaccessible places? (Trees or buildings, for example.)
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Yesterday, I sent a brief note to the Central Park Conservancy requesting that they suspend goose egg addling for this year. Homepage - The Official Website of Central Park NYC (One is limited to only a few lines in the "contact us" box.) I don't know that the request will have any impact as my name is well known to the Conservancy at this point.
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The bottom line is that, even if we don't yet know all the science and facts enough to make absolute predictions, it would simply be nice to not watch again, the geese going through grief and mourning periods over loss of their eggs or goslings -- as has been observed for the past three years.
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Just as importantly, many families and children would get to experience once again, the wonders of not just Canada goose nesting, but the thrill of watching the goslings actually grow up.
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These are after all, the true miracles that nature has to show and teach us. -- PCA
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