Greylag Goose

 Greylag Goose, Anser anser is the ancestor of domesticated geese in Europe and North America. Flocks of feral birds derived from domesticated birds are widespread.  Within science, the Greylag Goose is most notable as being the bird with which the ethologist Konrad Lorenz first did his major studying into the behavioural phenomenon of imprinting.

While walking through the park beside  my home, Ward Park, I took these photographs and video.  Throughout the photos I will intersperse some information.

The Greylag is the largest and bulkiest of the grey geese of the genus Anser.  It has a rotund, bulky body, a thick and long neck, and a large head and bill.  It has pink legs and feet, and an orange or pink bill.  

It is 29 to 36 ins long with a wing length of 16.2 to 19 ins. It has a tail 2.4 to 2.7 ins a bill of 2.5 to 2.7 ins long, and a tarsus of 2.8 to 3.7 ins. It weighs 2.16 to 4.8 to 10.1 lb, with a mean weight of around 7.3 lbs. The wingspan is 58 to 71 ins. 

Males are generally larger than females.

The plumage of the Greylag Goose is greyish-brown, with a darker head and paler belly with variable black spots. Its plumage is patterned by the pale fringes of its feathers. It has a white line bordering its upper flanks. Its coverts are lightly coloured, contrasting with its darker flight feathers. Juveniles differ mostly in their lack of a black-speckled belly.

In the UK, Greylag Geese breed from the beginning of April to May, laying usually five to eight eggs in a large nest amongst floating vegetation or hidden in reeds.  The incubation period is about 28 days and, unlike many species of waterfowl, the male goose or gander stays with the family group.  

Geese, in fact, have a more cohesive family unit than ducks and both parents guard the goslings against attacks from other birds or predatory mammals.  The Greylag Goose family continues to remain together throughout the year and will migrate from their wintering grounds as a group within a larger flock.  Only when the adult birds are ready to establish a new breeding territory will the gander drive off the previous year’s young birds.

Geese are primarily grazing birds, although they also take grain, root crops and leafy vegetation. Geese have relatively short bills, and prefer pasture or meadows that are grazed by cattle or sheep.  A flock of geese will work their away across the fields, nibbling the more nutritious growing shoots of the grass or cereal crop. Grass, by itself, is not particularly high in nutrients, and geese have to eat almost continuously in order to gain any nourishment from it. 

To allow these bulky birds to be able to take-off in an emergency, they process this grass at a remarkable rate.  The birds defecate almost continuously whilst grazing so that their gut is not weighed down with food and they can still make a quick getaway if danger threatens.

Greylag geese are a migratory species and their breeding and wintering range extends across much of Europe and Asia.  Greylags breed in Iceland, around the North Sea and Baltic coasts of Scandinavia, Finland and Northern Europe, and southwards through central Eastern Europe and western Russia as far south as the Black Sea.  Winter populations range from the Iberian east coast, across southern Europe and Asia Minor, through the Himalayas and Thailand to the China Sea.

In Great Britain, their numbers had declined as a breeding bird, retreating north to breed wild only in the Outer Hebrides and the northern mainland of Scotland. However, during the 20th century, feral populations have been established elsewhere, and they have now re-colonised much of England. The breeding habitat is a variety of wetlands including marshes, lakes, and damp heather moors.

In Norway, the number of Greylag Geese is estimated to have increased three- to five fold during the last 15–20 years. As a consequence, farmers' problems caused by goose grazing on farmland has increased considerably. This problem is also evident for the pink-footed goose.

This is a close up of their feathers.

 

This species is one of the last to migrate, and the "lag" portion of its name is said to derive from this lagging behind other geese.

Close up of their feet and legs.

Now don't tell the geese this!!!  

Traditionally eaten at Michaelmas, Mrs Beeton recommends cooking with a glass of port or wine to which has been added a teaspoon of mustard, some salt and a few grains of cayenne pepper. 

It has a loud cackling call, HOOOOOONK!, like the domestic goose.

The video can be accessed at

http://youtu.be/cZtbUpEHmUk

If there is a black space below, Click it and the video will appear.



I hope you enjoyed this post.  I am just back from the weekend away without internet access so have not been able to look at any blogs.

Thank you for visiting.

Thispost islinked to The D'pot