BIRD TALK: GEESE GONE WILD

By Greg Dunne                                          

September 14, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --I don’t claim to be an expert on birds descending from the dinosaurs, but if Geese did descend from millions of years ago, it’s not surprising that they are fearless creatures. I’ve been “honked” at, faced down on the path, and even charged by Geese at our local lakes in the East County. The Geese in particular at tiny Lindo Lake in Lakeside seem to rule the area with bravado and pride and can be extremely aggressive.  In addition, one of the most diverse amounts of species of Geese I’ve witnessed is at Lindo Lake.

The latest aggressive behavior towards me occurred while I was walking at Lindo Lake last week. I saw cruising on the pathway ahead of me a group Geese that I’ve seen before – but was never sure of the correct species, nor cared about knowing.  I was outnumbered five to one by these geese and they were much louder than me. I decided to play it safe and walk around them. They seemed to be quite happy with themselves about moving me off the path. I was able to determine what they were after getting home and doing some research – the Domestic Greylag Goose is what blocked my path that day.

The geese I see and recognize most often on my walks in East County are the Canada Geese, Snow Geese and Chinese Geese. All of these are easily recognizable. The Canada Geese with mostly black and white along the side of their face; the Snow geese that are completely white and very large; and my current favorite – the Chinese Geese that are predominately white with a little black and a big knob on the top of their heads. Most of our local geese are not native but have either been introduced or escaped from a domestic habitat. Identification can be difficult as some of the geese have interbred and make for some difficult classification.

Back to the Greylag Goose. The species we see here are Domestic Greylag Geese that have escaped from either someone’s farm or house, or they have been deliberately introduced into the wild. The Wild Greylag Goose is found throughout the old world in many European counties and extending across Asia to China. They primarily graze on grasses and marsh vegetation, eating rhizomes, roots, tubers, shoots, leaves, stems, and seeds. They also eat agricultural grain and root crops such as potatoes, carrots, and turnips and will eat small aquatic animals.

The Chinese Goose was domesticated from the Swan Goose in Central Siberia over 2,000 years ago; the Chinese Goose is the smallest of all domestic geese. It is sometimes referred to as the "Swan Goose" because of its graceful manner. There are two varieties of the Chinese Goose, White and Brown. The original variety is similar to the Brown Chinese Goose.

Finally, if under attack from a single goose or a gaggle (collective noun) of geese, stand your ground and don’t give them much notice. Proceed with your forward way and you’ll find that most times they are full of bluff. Just try not to be on a YouTube “chased by goose” video.  Get out for a walk to enjoy the outdoors and say “Hi” to the local geese at the lake.