Good for the goose
+ happy New Year!
We hope that all you Frog Troublers are having a great holiday—we went to Virginia for Christmas, which is why we haven’t posted here, but now we’re home again. We had a great time with Nana and Grandpa in Northern Virginia, and with Mamie and Grampa and some of our cousins in Walkerton.
While in Walkerton, we noticed a lot of Canada geese. They were flying overhead, in V formation, but also making a lot of noise. Why do they honk so much, we wondered? Don’t they all know where they’re going?
We’ve never posted about geese before, mostly because we’ve all had some not-so-great encounters with them. Last year, Canada geese invaded the soccer field at Bea and Harriet’s school. A gaggle settled there for more than a week, and no one could use the soccer field for the entire time they were there. Bea says she still finds goose poop on the soccer field! (It’s important not to touch goose poop since it can harbor E.Coli and other harmful bacteria.)
Belle grew up with domestic geese as pets. Their names were Larry, Darryl, and Darryl, after characters on the Bob Newhart show, and after Larry got eaten by a fox it was just the two Darryls, who were mean as… geese. They chased Belle and her brother, and even Mamie, and would grab them with their beaks and beat them with their wings.
And if you want to know what that’s like, check out this video about geese teeth and tongues:
So let’s just say these animals didn’t have the obvious charisma of some of our favorites, like owls or bobcats or frogs. But there is something kind of nice about listening to them migrating—the sound of the seasons changing in a predictable, reassuring way. We knew that many geese, like the ones that settled at Bea’s school, don’t migrate any more. They like our soccer fields and lawns, which give geese parents (who generally mate for life) the ability to watch out for predators. They also like unfrozen lakes, which, because of climate change, are more and more common, even in places that used to freeze every winter. Climate threats to Canada geese include heat waves, which endanger the young, and wildfires (check out this Audubon Society map about the changing range of Canada geese).
But these geese in Walkerton were headed somewhere! Even if it was just West Point. And when we looked up why they honked their beaks off, we were impressed! Here’s what we learned:
-Canada geese fly in a V formation of 30 to 100 birds. This shape, known as a wedge, helps them conserve energy. Because each goose flies slightly above the bird in front of them, the wind drag is less, allowing the geese to fly at speeds of up to 70 miles an hour.
-And it’s not just about wind drag—as Ed Yong point out in this Nat Geo article, geese in the rear are actually benefiting from complex vortices of air that roll off the wings of the geese in front, pushing and lifting the heavy birds.
-The V formation also helps the geese keep track of everyone in the wedge, so they don’t lose anyone. This is also important since some flyers in every wedge will be on their first flight (!).
-Geese take turns being the “lead” goose so no one gets too tired. The lead goose has no one creating an aerodynamic lift, so its heart rate is about 15% higher. Switching positions helps everyone get to their destination more efficiently.
-The goose in front also does a lot of the honking, which helps to communicate with other geese. Their honking helps them take off and land together, and makes sure that everyone (especially the younger members of the flock) stays in the best position.
-Some people also think that by honking, geese are encouraging one another for their long trips. Migrating geese have been known to fly up to 1,500 miles in a single day!
If you’re looking for more bird reads, this New York Times article about Mister Grouse is cute and hilarious.
How are you spending your New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, Frog Troublers? Will you eat black-eyed peas tomorrow, or another lucky food? We hope you have safe migrations, however short or long they are.
Interesting! I hear them go over our house in Burlington.
Happy New Year Frog Troublers!! I will be making an extremely rare effort at cooking (gasp!) to ensure my friends and I get our black-eyed peas and greens, which I am delighted to report will be locally-grown callaloo, which I am told is related to nettle and certainly very good for you and auspicious for the new year!! Love to you all!!