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photo courtesy of Penn State University
The Canada Goose
The Canada goose is one of the most widely distributed water birds in North America and ranges along both coasts as well as throughout the central and lower United States.
Adult geese can reach four feet from beak to feet and weigh as much as 24 pounds; large adults sport a wing span of six feet.
Canada geese mate for life and may live as long as twenty-four years, they typically return to the same nesting and birth sites every year. Average nest size is from 3 to 6 eggs with as many as 12 possible.
An adult goose eats up to 4 lbs of grass daily and drops 2 lbs of fecal matter which has been linked to the spread of diseases and bacterial infections.
Of the 11 species of Canada geese,
"Three distinct Canada goose subspecies occur in Pennsylvania. Two are migrants that breed in Canada; the third breeds here. The migrants comprise geese from the Southern James Bay population (B. c. interior), which fly over westernmost Pennsylvania, and the Atlantic population (B. c. canadensis), which migrate over eastern Pennsylvania. Our resident geese are giant Canada geese (B. c. maxima). Resident geese are largely non-migratory; they nest and winter here. The growth of this population has been phenomenal. Prior to 1935, no Canada geese nested anywhere in Pennsylvania. But today they are found in every county."{PA Game Commission - Wildlife Notes by Chuck Fergus }
Others sources for information in this article:
USDA Wildlife Services
Canada Goose Management
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