If a goose gets sick or is wounded, a couple of other geese may drop out of formation to help and protect him. If a goose is injured, shot, or falls ill and can no longer keep up with the flock one or two other geese will stay behind with him/her to check on them and stay with them for protection until s/he either passes away or recovers. This happens when large sums of migratory geese arrive at a specific site to rest over on their journey, often decimating vegetation at the location where they stopped. Thousands of “honkers” migrate north and south each year, filling the sky with long V-formations. The eagle, maybe a bit too cocky with its catch, left the door open for the goose to duck out from underneath. Sharing a common goal: As each goose flaps its wings it creates “uplift”, an aerodynamics orientation that reduces air friction, for the birds that follow. The survival rate of first year resident geese is variable. If one dies, they may or may find another mate. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.” Think of that—an increased flight distance of up to 71%. When a goose’s mate dies, that bird will mourn in seclusion—and some geese spend the rest of their lives as widows or widowers, refusing to mate again. Canada Goose (Genus, species: Branta canadensis) One of my favorite spring and autumn memories ever since my early childhood was hearing the honk of the Canada Geese. Geese will pair up in their 2nd Year. In The Pig Who Sang To The Moon, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson writes about a goose who had a broken wing. Drawn by its need to stay with its lifelong companion, the single goose will often ignore the sound of shooting and return to die with its mate. During the fall migration, as other geese flew south, her gander accompanied her by air and by foot. Its head and bill could be easily confused with those of a Snow Goose, but again this is a large, blocky goose with a thick neck. He needs time to process the loss before returning to his flock where perhaps (I hope) he will meet female goose who has also been left alone and together they will form a new family. Its body was around 30 meters long and its wings were 50 meters wide fully open. Only when they return to their nesting grounds the following spring do the fledglings and their parents go their separate ways.
Little did he know he would get a friend for a lifetime. Geese will honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. These loud, white-and-black geese can cover the ground in a snowy blanket as they eat their way across fallow cornfields or wetlands. Coincidentally, wildlife officials began a national recovery program by taking and incubating nest eggs from "decoy" geese they had captured to lure other geese (coming down from Canada).