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Why would 3 large Canada Goose babies suddenly not be around?

sebbo
03/08/2021 15:42

Hi all,

Since lockdown began last March, I have found a wonderful new hobby in going to a few local watering holes and feeding the ducks and geese.

On one of the local pools there have been for a while a group of 27 geese, including a pair with 5 babies, a pair with 2, and another pair with 3.

A week or so ago, all of the non parents flew off, then a few days ago the families with 5 and 2 babies also left, leaving just the family with the 3 babies who are now pretty big and I thought should soon be ready to fly off. However, today I went to visit my remaining five feathery friends and could only see the parents, and this is the first time I have ever not seen them all together. I've been going to say hello and feeding them since they were fluffy little yellow things and I have grown very fond of them.

So my question is, why would 3 very big Canada goose babies suddenly not be around? I would be very surprised if they have all got to such an age only to all die in the space of 3 days since I last saw them.

I would imagine if a wildlife place had taken them to check for some reason that they would have taken the parents at the same time so as not to break them up.

The babies wouldn't have gone on a short solo flight or anything would they? I'm no expert but a quick google search doesn't bring up anything to suggest that this is something that would take place.

Also, if humans had been and done something to the babies (which I'd like to think is very unlikely but sadly I know still possible) then I doubt the parents would have come up to me this morning like they usually do to say hello and eat from my hand. I know it is definitely the parents because the daddy goose has a ridge almost like a scar down his front.

I just wondered why the babies would suddenly not be there. The only other thing I can think of is that the babies are very almost ready to fly and are on the bank amongst the trees resting but again I don't know if having a period of rest to conserve strength before their first flight is a thing!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! Hopefully I will go again in a couple of days and see them all back together.

  • 0 03/08/2021 17:18
    Any Foxes in your area, they are partial to young Geese and may b e feeding cubs at this time so goslings would fit the bill.
  • 0 03/08/2021 18:33 in reply to Seaman
    Hi Pete,

    I have only ever seen a fox once in the vicinity of this particular pool, and that was about 15 years ago. That's not to say there aren't any of course.

    I feel like the most likely thing is that they were just resting in one of the spots I couldn't see them, as all 3 getting predated in the space of 3 days seems very unlikely to me, especially given they are now so big and the parents didn't seem in any way spooked.
  • 0 03/08/2021 22:34
    If a Fox has found a food source it will clear it out,3 goslings would be no problem as many poultry keepers have found out when they forgot to shut their birds in at night.
  • 0 04/08/2021 12:01
    Hi all,

    Thanks for the replies.

    In terms of the scarring, it was a very noticable line down its chest than none of the other geese in the group had.

    I have been back today and the parents are not there today either. So, in my mind the most likely explanation is the kids were saving energy for their first big flight and that is why I couldn't see them, and the family left later on during the day.

    I aslo went to a different pool where I fed 28 geese a 4/5 days ago, and there were only 6 there today; one pair, and then a pair that have two small goslings and thus could not have joined the rest of the group. One of the babies comes immediately to me and eats from my hand, and he does it ever so gently, to the point you pretty much can't feel him eating from your hand. He is so adorable!

    There is also another pool where I had a group of 15 geese, where 12 left leaving 3, the next time there were 2, then yesterday only one. No doubt he will have left to join the others by the next time I go, too.
  • 0 04/08/2021 13:37
    We have noticed in recent days that our local geese, mainly Greylag with a few Canadas, have started moving out to different feeding area not including the young non flying birds of course. There are a lot of corn fields being harvested at the moment and they are moving onto the stubble and feeding on the spilt grain. This may explain some of the movement of birds you are seeing. In our area this involves several hundred birds but the same would apply to smaller flocks
  • 0 04/08/2021 14:00
    Yep, wasn't sure exactly where to, but figured they were all leaving at similar times to go somewhere that was appealing more to them at this time.

    We do have Greylags arund here too at points during the year, but never as many as the Canada geese.

    At the pool in question of my initial query, there was one lone Greylag who turned up one day and just hung around with all the Canada geese and would regularly eat from my hand. Other than that the most I have seen is 15 on the biggest pool of the ones I go to.