Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Canada goose

A large familiar goose, a noisy, messy nester on lawns and waterfronts.

Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Group: Birds
Ontario status: Established, abundant provincewide; major nuisance on lawns and waterfronts

Why it matters

Droppings foul lawns, beaches, and paths (E. coli advisories at swimming areas); aggressive nest defense injures people and pets each spring; grazing damages turf and crops. And critically: Canada geese are PROTECTED by federal law, nests and eggs cannot be touched without a permit.

Origin

Native to North America, this is a Canadian bird, not an import. The giant resident subspecies now living on our lawns descends from mid-20th-century reintroduction programs.

Behavior

Grazes lawns in flocks by day; roosts on water at night. Pairs are strongly territorial around the nest in spring, a nesting goose will confront people and dogs. Resident (non-migratory) flocks stay year-round in southern Ontario.

Living conditions

Short grass near water: lawns, parks, golf courses, waterfronts, storm ponds. Needs open sightlines to spot predators and calm water nearby for night roosting. Hand-fed, mowed landscapes are ideal.

Signs of presence

Large cylindrical droppings ~75 mm fouling lawns and paths
Feather drifts and grazed patches on waterfront grass
Hissing, outstretched-neck confrontations near nests in April, May
V-formation skeins overhead in spring and fall (migrants, distinct from residents)

Weaknesses

Grazing-dependent: long grass and unmowed shorelines are far less attractive than manicured lawns
Needs open sightlines, visual barriers and shoreline planting break up preferred loafing areas
Flightless for weeks during the summer molt, the one window of genuine vulnerability
Strong nest-site fidelity cuts both ways: deterred once, pairs often relocate

Myths and facts

Myth Geese are pests, so you can remove nests or eggs.
Reality False and illegal: the Migratory Birds Convention Act protects them. Nest and egg interference requires a federal permit, fines apply.
Myth All Canada geese migrate.
Reality Southern Ontario's problem birds are mostly resident giants that never leave. Scaring 'migrants' away in fall does nothing about them.

Research notes

Morphology

Length 760-1,100 mm, wingspan 1.3-1.8 m, weight 2.6-6.5 kg (resident giants at the top end). Black head and neck with a white cheek patch ('chinstrap'); brown-gray body; black bill and feet.

Diagnostics

Confirm by: black neck + white cheek patch + large size. The cackling goose (Branta hutchinsii) is a small lookalike with a stubby bill and higher-pitched call.

Easily confused with

Cackling goose, Branta hutchinsii Cackling goose is much smaller (about mallard-sized) with a short stubby bill; Canada goose is large with a long bill and neck.

Life cycle

Egg: Clutch 4-7 creamy eggs in a ground nest near water; incubation 25-30 days by the female
Nymph or larva: Goslings fledge at 6-9 weeks; family groups stay together through the first winter
Adult: Lifespan 10-20+ years in the wild; pairs mate for life; breeds at 2-3 years
Egg to adult: Hatch to flight ~6-9 weeks
Generations per year: 1 brood per year

Development

Oviparous; precocial goslings, hatch downy and follow parents within a day.

Reproduction

4-7 eggs per clutch × 1 brood/year; high gosling survival in urban settings drives population growth.

Distribution

Native range: North America
Ontario: Abundant provincewide; resident giants concentrated in southern Ontario cities and waterfronts
Global: North America; introduced populations in Europe and New Zealand

Ecology

Grazer of grasses and sedges; needs roughly 0.5-1 kg of forage daily for an adult. Strong pair bonds and nest-site fidelity. Resident populations are non-migratory; northern breeders still migrate through. Molts flight feathers in midsummer, flightless ~4 weeks.

Resistance

N/A, not a pesticide target species.

IPM implications

THE legal fact first: protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, nests, eggs, and birds cannot be harmed or moved without a federal permit from Environment and Climate Change Canada. Monitoring: flock counts and nest mapping in April. Habitat modification is the lawful lever, long grass, shoreline planting, and visual barriers reduce loafing; egg addling or oiling is done only under permit. Any intervention plan starts with the permit question, not the technique.

Chemical ecology

Limited published work; pair-bond and parent-offspring recognition is vocal and visual. Gosling distress calls trigger aggressive parental defense.

Genetics and DNA

No reference genome published as of 2026.

Taxonomy

Anseriformes: Anatidae. Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758), 'branta' from Old Norse for burnt (the black neck); the giant resident subspecies is B. c. maxima.

Open questions

Carrying capacity of urban southern Ontario for resident geese; long-term efficacy of permitted egg-management programs.

References

Mowbray et al., Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Migratory Birds Convention Act guidance