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Show THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1994 PAGE 26 From Behind the Rocks iron-ric- h tissue in their brains whidi may magnetic fields. Homing pigeons, for example, possess function as a compass. When the geese reach their breeding grounds they waste predous little time pairing off and establishing a nesting site. When a goose or gander is two to three years old it will select its mate, and this bond ends only by death. If one of the pair is injured during migration, its mate will leave the flock to remain by its side, even at its own peril. Kit Howard Breen, in her beautifully photographed and captivating book The Canada Goose, describes the behavior of a goose whose mate has recently died. Surviving birds spent much time calling and searching jar their mates, staying at the edge of the flock or even leaving the flock to extend the range of their search. Anyone who has observed a lone goose searching and honking for its mate can hear the stressed, mournful sounds of the calling. (I had to choke bade a sob when I read this passage. I know how you feel, I whispered. I know exactly how you feel. But what finally happens to the grieving spouse, I wondered? Does it just wander around for the rest of its days, looking for its lost mate? No. By the next breeding season the goose or gander will have found a new mate, will have started a new family in the arctic tundra, and will remain monogamous to this new relationship for the rest of its life. Way to go, baby, I smile. Live long and prosper. Once the nest has been established, the goose lays and incubates the eggs while the gander drives off any intruders, inducting other geese. They prefer to nest on small islands, because from there they can see in all directions, their territory is easy to defend, they are dose to the water, and native grasses grow dose by in abundance. In about 28 days the first egg will hatch. By Mary Grizzard They come winging their way through the Colorado river corridor, their sonorous honks echoing off the canyon walls and giving every nearby human being cause to momentarily cease from their task at hand, look up, and wonder. It is a wild and thrilling song, music that this rich, resonant call of the frequently inspires its listener to develop well, goosebumps the Canada goose. We pause to watch them beat air in their flight formations, their black heads and white throats and ebony necks stretched gracefully ahead of their large - - bodies, and something inside of us suddenly yearns to take flight ourselves and join pern chi their great migration to the northlands. Some will travel over a thousand miles to their nesting grounds in western Canada, followingriver valleys, marshlands and lakeshores across the Rocky Mountains; others will stop off at favorable breeding areas along the way. But all have bmbarked on this great journey of reproductive purpose with nothing but their feathers and an jmdent, insistent drive to fly northward, and nothing short of disability or death will keep them from their destinations. Unencumbered freedom...courageous endeavor...un compromising quest..As the canyon air settles into silence and the last goose vanishes around an upstream Wid, we find we have been dreaming of what it might be like to lead such a life ourselves; wonder if perhaps it might not be too late to begin. . That the Canada goose is an adventurer extraordinaire is not the only reason why our race js so enamored with them. Geese possess a plethora of other admirable qualities. They are creatures of grace and beauty. Their northward journey is, for many, a harbinger of spring. To some, they are exciting to hunt and provide savory fare for the Christmas table. Theirs is an efficient, well organized society based upon a complex social hierarchy. Both sexes are Remarkably devoted parents. But, perhaps what we admire most about Canada geese is that they have achieved something to which our species still aspires when a goose and gander choose one another as mates, they remain steadfastly faithful for the rest of their lives. i It's springtime, now, and Branta canadensis moffitti have been on the wing for several weeks Already. (I miss them. I miss hearing how they would honk to one another as they flew past ny home on their way through the Portal While I've been able to watch Canada geese along the Animas River over here in Durango, I do not live directly beneath a major flyway as I did in Moab.) Hie gradual lengthening of daylight hours affects the birds' pituitary and pineal glands,and this, together with consistent daytime temperatures rising above 35 degrees F, seem to trigger the urge to move northward. The geese will return to the same location where they were raised, and most breeding pairs will select the exact same nest site year after year. Scientists recognize three major factors influencing this springtime pilgrimage securing safe nesting grounds to brood their young; a temperate dimate in which to raise the offspring, and an abundant food supply. That Canada geese have chosen breeding grounds in Canadian tundra and remote locations of the northern United States has proven very beneficial to their survival. Human activity has not had much impact yet on their breeding grounds, whereas many other spedes of waterfowl, such as ducks, have suffered dramatic population declines because (they nest in prairie state wetlands that are being drained for agriculture and housing developments, or are polluted by industrial wastes. The overall population of Canada geese has, in fact, been increasing steadily over the past several decades, largely as a result of an expanded waterfowl refuge system, and it is believed that there are more of them in the United States today than in precolonial times. So they're flying bade to the ole stomping grounds to give their offspring the same good life which they once knew but how do they find their way back there? Researchers have reported fascinating discoveries about the mystery of bird migration, but much is still unknown. It seems that migratory birds employ a variety of navigational tools to determine where they are and where they are headed: by sense of sight, taking daytime bearings off the sun and nighttime bearings from the stars, as well as visual recognition of landmarks; the ability to hear extremely low sound waves, enabling them to detect distant thunderstorms over the Rocky Mountains or the pounding of ocean surf; and even the ability to sense gravitational and gray-brow- n - - - - Goslings are only a few hours old when mom gives them their first swimming lesson. The bold little paddlers do well from the start, as their fluffy down gives them great buoyancy. For the first three weeks the female swims in the lead with the goslings behind her and the male bringing up the rear. After that time, either the goose or gander may lead the family on their aquatic outings. Ganders play as active a role in childrearing as the female, and will fiercely defend the young from any sized intruder, unlike male ducks who merely fertilize the eggs and : then carry on with the bachelor life. The days shorten, the nights grow cold. The goslings have matured and are ready for flight. Once again it is the need for a temperate climate that motivates the geese to migrate in the fall. While safe nesting sites are not a criterion this time, open water and an unfrozen food supply are. Geese are particularly fond of feasting on the leftovers of man's com, wheat and rice crops as they winter over in southern sections of the U5. They prefer, in fact, to eat domestic grains over native food sources, and can devastate a farmer's crop if they arrive in his field before harvest. The tight family unit of the Canada geese remains together on their long journey southward, where they will spend the cold months at their wintering grounds and then return, again as a family, back to their nesting sites the next spring. And not only do they travel together as a nuclear family, but it seems that each flock of geese that comprises a "V" is actually a dan of sorts, with offspring of previous years, their mates and young, all traveling together. It is believed that the dominant male of this extended family group flies in the lead position of the "V" . Observers have also noted that a definite social order exists between these dann themselves. Large families are dominant over small families, small families dominate a male and female pair, and a pair will assert dominance over a lone goose. - |