Getting Familiar With The 3 Geese

On the post "Where There Is Geese, There Is More Geese" we met (or I met in the flesh) three goose species. Brent Goose, Greylag Goose and Canadian Goose. Here we will get to know these three geese a bit more. They're my pals right? They soon will be yours if you come down to Farlington Marshes or another place where these geese flock. You (the beginners I am talking of) will get to know more bird friends as I will do a series of posts (Getting Familiar With The...) about the birds seen and talked about on a previous post.

Greylag Geese fly in a v shape (here not joined up.

The Goose Terms

Goose Groups

The geese (in the family Anatidae, tribe Anserini) are divided into two groups, the black geese (Branta) and the grey geese (Anser). The black geese are geese with areas of solid black plumage and the grey geese are geese without solid areas of black plumage (they look rather grey as a result hence the name). Our three geese here belong to: 

The broad chin band of the Canadian Goose
is conspicuous even from a distance.

Common Name             Latin Name         Group   

Greylag Goose                    Anser anser               grey   

Canadian Goose                  Branta canadensis      black 

Brent Goose                       Branta bernicla          black 

Goose Sexes and Juvenile Names

A male goose is called a gander and a female goose is just a goose, whereas a male and female swan are a cob and a pen and in ducks a drake and duck. A juvenile goose is a gosling but in the field guides chick or juvenile or immature are mainly used. The calls of geese are referred to by most as honking as geese do make trumpeting honks. 

Goose Alternative Names

There are alternative names for many birds. The Greylag Goose is spelt in the United States as Graylag and the Canadian Goose is just the plain Canada Goose in the bird books. Some people call Brent Geese Brant Geese. Be careful with American bird field guides as birds which occur over here in Britain (or if you are American, the opposite) because birds that occur in both countries may be called different things e.g. the Little Tern is called by that name in Britain, but is called the Least Ten in America. 

The Geese

The Canadian Goose

Appearance: The Canadian Goose is a large goose, sometimes described as swanlike, although smaller than a swan. The bill, head and long neck are black, with a broad white chin band, touching the eye and extending to the crown. The upperparts and wings are brown with pale feather edging and the legs are dark. The rump is white and the underparts are pale with no clear definition between the flank colouring and the belly.

a Canadian Goose

Sorry if the labels on this diagram are a bit small. I should have written them bigger.  

The Brent Goose

 The Brent Goose is Britain's smallest goose. It is shorter-necked than Canadian Geese without the striking definition between the neck and breast. This goose too has white on the neck, but it is not on the chin and is not as big or conspicuous. The upperparts are dark grey as are the underparts but the distinctive white rump is still present. The Brent Geese form huge flocks on mudflats in winter feeding on eelgrass, but if there is no eelgrass they will move to fields to graze terrestrial grasses like grey geese.

a very small flock of Brent Geese

 Again, the diagram labels are small but they say the same description as it says above the picture.

The Greylag Goose

The Greylag Goose is not as big as the Canadian Goose but bigger than the Brent Goose. It is grey all over but with pale feather edges and it grazes in fields but never on eelgrass like Brent Geese. They fly in a v shape when migrating. The legs of these geese are pink and the bill is orange and very big and heavy compared to the bills of other geese. 

a Greylag Goose

You can read the writing well on this diagram. Woo! 

Bye

Go out to Farlington Marshes or a place near you where geese graze and see them for yourself! It is spectacular. Make friends with your local geese (not as in go and say hi to them but as in get to know how it is to be around geese)! It is very rewarding. Take some photos and comment on the blog to tell me about your awesome goosey experiences! When I put up a post about another "birding trip" I have gone on, I will put up a post about getting to know the birds from the "birding trip". We will be finding out about lots more bird species and I hope you try to see some yourself then report the experience back to me. Bye! Keep feeding the birds and watching them!