1 Pair of Canada Geese, 22 Gosslings

This evening on my way back from Vancouver's seaplane base on the middle arm of the Fraser River I came across a pair of Canada Geese with 22 gosslings. Another pair 100yards away had 8 goslings, no other geese in sight. Would the pair with 22 be assuming parental duties with other pairs? I can't imagine they were all one family.

lousy photo but it shows about 20 of them.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28305360@N00/4623641814/" title="CE0C9512 gosslings by Blake Cook, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4623641814_b4dbd462ae_o.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="CE0C9512 gosslings" /></a>

Hi Blake, I have moved your post to Avian ID, Behaviour etc as John will be the man to give the best answer on this.

Blake, This is incredible. I can't wait to hear from John.

This amalgamation of broods is not unusual with Canada Geese. In some instances I have seen 50-60 youngsters attended by two to four pairs of adults. Another interesting thing with CAGOs is the postbreeding wing molt. Non-breeding yearlings, adults who have not nested and those whose nests have been destroyed are the first to molt and in some cases will fly north hundreds of miles gather in molting areas go through the wing molt and then return south in the autumn and rejoin the breeding flocks.

James has the answer- thanks! I've also seen this with dabbling ducks like Mallards. I'll look into this more just to find out if these creches are looked after by a rotating set of parents. Then it would be a good example of reciprocal altruism in action. It is certainly maladaptive for a single pair to take this on on the own unless the pair is losing their own goslings in the group and therefore taking advantage of safety in numbers.

Thanks James and John. A week or so earlier there was a pair with 10 newly hatched gosslings that were closely shadowed by another pair of geese for several days. If either of the pair got closer than about 30ft they were chased off, but remained close by. Would these be last year's offspring from the pair with the brood?

Hi Blake, How are you doing?

Sounds like an interesting story. It seems to me I have also seen some very large groups, almost like a day care.

Dave Leroy

Hi Dave,

Things are going very well, thank-you.

I didn't realize you were bird photographer. I mostly shoot aircraft but visit this site often to marvel at the skill here. Aircraft are a piece of cake compared to birds.

How's the world treating you?

Cheers,
Blake

You know what they say Blake, if it was any better it would be illegal. I spend my time wandering around the dykes and foreshore trying to get a decent bird photo.

It is a tremendous website and obviously attracts world class photogs who very generously give their time for advice and suggestions. Hard to beat that.

Good Luck with the planes. Lots of birds around Sea Island also.
Take Care,
Dave