The male is in defensive, warning posture, most probably because of your presence. It was all about you and protection of the young. John -- John and Sue Gregoire Field Ornithologists Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory 5373 Fitzgerald Road Burdett,NY 14818-9626 N 42 26.611' W 76 45.492' Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/ "Conserve and Create Habitat"
On Sun, August 16, 2015 09:39, Meena Madhav Haribal wrote: > > Hi all, > > This past June I was in Perch River WMA region and I observed a strange and > interesting behavior of Canada goose. So I thought I will share with you all > and I > would like to know if anyone else has observed similar behavior. > > > It was chilly morning and there was a pair of Canada Geese ahead of me. I > found one > of them (I presume probably father), was strangely arching his neck to low > level and > peering at something under the female (I presume) who was sitting and > uttering some > calls. I thought may be it has to do with courtship behavior. He would > occasionally > move his head like snake and look down in that strange fashion. See the > picture > link below. So I was fascinated and was watching him. Soon it turned out the > female > lifted her body and I could see some fluffy chicks may be a few days old > underneath > her. Then she adjusted herself and settled down again. The father kept > watching and > uttering some noises. Then after sometime of sunning she decided that she can > let > her babies out. As soon as they were out the male went and touched couple of > the > chicks with his beak as patting them on their heads and then they all walked > into > the water. > > > So I was wondering why was he doing that? Was he communicating with the > chicks? May > be he could see some chicks from his vantage point while I did not see any. > Or they > were playing pickaboo kind of game? Whatever they were doing it was > fascinating to > watch. > > > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/91426175@N00/20001332614/in/dateposted-public/ > > DSC_4830_001Perch RWMA > Canada Goose peering at its babies that were under the female > > [https://farm1.staticflickr.com/742/20001332614_0fcc68c124_b.jpg]<https://www.flickr.com/photos/91426175@N00/20001332614/in/dateposted-public/> > > View photo on > Flickr...<https://www.flickr.com/photos/91426175@N00/20001332614/in/dateposted-public/> > > > > > > Meena Haribal > Ithaca NY 14850 > 42.429007,-76.47111 > http://www.haribal.org/ > http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ > Ithaca area moths: https://plus.google.com/118047473426099383469/posts > Dragonfly book sample pages: http://www.haribal.org/dragonflies/samplebook.pdf > > > > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
