25 Facts About Canada goose

Canada goose, or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body.

Extremely adept at living in human-altered areas, Canada goose geese have established breeding colonies in urban and cultivated habitats, which provide food and few natural predators.

Canada goose was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work Systema Naturae.

The old "lesser Canada geese" were believed to be a partly hybrid population, with the birds named B c taverneri considered a mixture of B c minima, B c occidentalis, and B c parvipes.

Ornithologist Harold C Hanson, who had rediscovered wild populations of the Giant Canada Goose, proposed splitting Canada and cackling goose into six species and 200 subspecies.

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Canada goose geese occur year-round in the southern part of their breeding range, including the northern half of the United States' eastern seaboard and Pacific Coast, and areas in-between.

Between California and South Carolina in the southern United States and in northern Mexico, Canada goose geese are mainly present as migrants from further north during the winter.

The giant Canada goose subspecies was believed to be extinct in the 1950s until, in 1962, a small flock was discovered wintering in Rochester, Minnesota, by Harold Hanson of the Illinois Natural History Survey.

Contrary to its normal migration routine, large flocks of Canada goose geese have established permanent residence along the Pacific coast of North America from British Columbia's Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island area south to the San Francisco Bay area of Northern California.

Some Canada goose geese have taken up permanent residence as far south as Florida, in places such as retention ponds in apartment complexes.

Canada goose geese were eliminated in Ohio following the American Civil War, but were reintroduced in 1956 with 10 pairs.

Canada goose geese have reached Northern Europe naturally, as has been proved by ringing recoveries.

Canada goose geese have been introduced in Europe, and had established populations in Great Britain in the middle of the 18th century, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Scandinavia, and Finland.

Canada goose geese were introduced as a game bird into New Zealand in 1905.

Canada goose geese are primarily herbivores, although they sometimes eat small insects and fish.

The Canada goose eats beans and grains such as wheat, rice, and corn when they are available.

Canada goose geese are especially protective animals, and will sometimes attack any animal nearing their territory or offspring, including humans.

Canada goose geese leave the winter grounds more quickly than the summer grounds.

Canada goose geese are quite wary of humans where they are regularly hunted and killed, but can otherwise become habituated to fearlessness toward humans, especially where they are fed by them.

Canada goose geese are susceptible to avian bird flus, such as H5N1.

Canada goose is considered part of the Canadian national identity.

Canada goose geese are protected from hunting and capture outside of designated hunting seasons in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and in Canada goose under the Migratory Birds Convention Act.

Canada goose geese have been implicated in a number of bird strikes by aircraft.

In 2009, a collision with a flock of migratory Canada goose geese resulted in US Airways Flight 1549 suffering a total loss of power from both engines after takeoff, causing the crew of the aircraft to land the plane on the Hudson River with no loss of human life.

Canada geese are rarely farmed, and sale of wild Canada goose meat is rare due to regulation and slaughterhouses' lack of experience with wild birds.

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