The smallest is Branta canadensis minima and the largest, Branta canadensis maxima. Ranging in size from 22 to 40 inches long. Full grown the geese can weigh from three to 24 pounds. In the past they recorded wing span of more than six feet on one bird. While both male and female Canada geese are similar in semblance, the male of a mated pair is usually larger.
Its colors show a black bill, legs and head. People confuse the Canada Goose sometimes with the Canada Brant. Most everywhere throughout North America you will find the Canada Goose. Everyone knows the Canada Geese for their V-shaped flight pattern, especially during their spring and fall migrations. Canada geese move by day or night and can travel thousands of miles at a time. They use land marks and even stars to guide them to their objective. The adult geese pass on this migrating information from generation to generation, parent geese teaching their children.
Canada Geese are Family Oriented Birds Canada geese mate for life and are very protective of their partner. They are among the few birds whose families stay together at the end of the breeding season. Goose families fly south together in a group with other families. They stay together on their wintering grounds and return together in the Spring to the same nesting area. In the Spring, when they arrive at their nesting place, the yearlings leave their parents and join yearlings from other families. They move away quite a distance; sometimes hundreds of miles. These young geese will not find mates and nest until they are about three years old.
Canada geese usually build their nests on the ground near water. The female chooses a spot with good visibility that allows her to see trespassers near. The geese often build nests on small islands in a pond and on a river banks and sometimes on muskrat and beaver houses. Some geese use the nests of other birds like ospreys, hawks, owls and herons. If possible, a pair will nest in the same spot every year. The female builds the nest of grasses, twigs, bark, leaves and mosses. The outer edge of the nest can range in size up to 40 inches across.
