| Canada Geese, Branta canadensis canadensis at the Pymatuning Waterfowl Refuge in Crawford County, Pennsylvania USA were studied to illustrate and quantify their annual behavioral repertoire. The data collected suggests that the behavioral patterns of Canada geese are complex. The majority of their time budget is taken up by physical maintenance behavior and sentinel activity. There are differences among males and females, adults and subadults, and mated and unmated geese with regard to specific behaviors, however no heterogeneity exists among these groupings for much of their behavior. There are differences among sexes, ages and reproductive status when compared with regard to certain categories of behavior (agonistic, social maintenance, physical maintenance and reproductive behavior) as well as with seasonal subdivisions of these categories of behavior. Canada geese are predictable in the sequences of behavior they perform. Individuals from mated pairs are most likely to perform identical behavior at any point in time. Gang broods are commonly developed by Canada geese. Dominant pairs are most likely to experience expanding broods while less dominant pairs experience decreasing family size. Adopted goslings are more often found in peripheral positions in their spatial distribution around the male parent while natural progeny display a close spatial distribution. Speculative evolutionary implications of this aberrant behavior for parents and progeny are proposed: (1) increased family size via adoption decreases predatory rate (1 in 5 vs 1-25), (2) protection of natural progeny--adopted goslings tend to be peripheral in the spatial distribution of the family, (3) there is security in numbers--the herd effect. (4) increased status in the dominance hierarchy by increasing family size, (5) adoption may occur among related individuals--kin selection. Geese perform "dumping", rolling out of flight formation, to speed up their rate of descent. When flying against a strong wind geese fly at angles away from the direction of the wind. |
