Seasons

The Fall Season 

September – What's happening? All geese can fly, including the young (goslings) that hatched in spring. Enjoy watching them fly through our fall sky in beautiful "V" formations.

• Resident Geese: Our local resident geese stay in the St. Louis metro area for the coming winter. Smaller family groups have joined into larger flocks. They fly within the metro area pond-hopping and foraging for food. They visit various lakes and neighborhoods in search of open water and a favorite food source – the soft tips of mowed grass. Geese are waterfowl and seek open water (not frozen) in which to sleep at night. Doing so gives them safety from land predators. Geese are grazers and are attracted to grassy areas found in our parks, athletic fields, golf courses, and lawns. "When we mow, we create a goose buffet!" Geese will also visit nearby agricultural fields to forage on grain left on the ground.

• Winter Migratory Geese from northern states and Canada: These geese will soon be migrating south to find warmer winter conditions. Many will stop over in Missouri and spend the winter in the St. Louis area.

October – What's happening? All geese can fly. Watch our fall sky for the arrival of thousands of visiting winter migratory geese from northern states and Canada.

• Resident Geese: Flocks continue pond-hopping and foraging for food on grassy sites and agricultural fields. As winter approaches our local geese stay put in the St. Louis metro area.

• Winter Migratory Geese: They begin their southern migration to the warmer winters. These geese instinctively leave the harsher winters of their home territories where water bodies will freeze over for long periods. Grasses and grains found there on the ground will be inaccessible to the geese, due to deep snow cover for weeks. Migrate or die.

November – What's happening? All geese can fly. Due to the arrival of winter migratory visitors, our local goose population increases significantly!

• Resident Geese: They remain in the St. Louis metro area. They continue to pond-hop and forage for food on grassy sites and agricultural fields.

• Winter Migratory Geese: They are arriving in the metro area in large flocks. The Missouri Department of Conservation estimates our winter population of geese will double or triple in the metro area as they arrive. These geese will mingle with flocks of resident geese at local parks and will pond-hop and forage for food.

The Spring Season

March – What's happening? All geese are flying. The Winter Migratory Geese have all gone home to nest back in Canada or northern states. Only resident geese remain in the St. Louis metro area.

• Resident Geese: They remain in the St. Louis area. Most geese make their first nest at the age of three years old in the spring. One- and two-year-old geese band together and stay nearby but not too close to their parents, who are going to nest again. Brand-new mother and father geese (three-year-olds) will mate and select a nest site.

  For reasons not understood, geese often select areas close to people to establish their nesting site. Both the male and female geese will then attempt to scare off anyone coming too close to their nest. They will not allow any creature to come close. Sometimes they may even attempt to chase away what they think is another goose when seeing their reflection in a window or on the side of a black car!

  After selecting a nesting site (if they are new mothers), or returning to their annual site, the mother goose will scrape a hole and deposit an egg every day-and-a-half. She will cover up the nest after each deposit. It will not be easily seen. Unless a problem has occurred, mother geese will return to the same nest site every year!

  It may take from one to two weeks to put down all of her eggs. In between laying, both she and the male goose (gander) will guard the site. Watch out for mother and father geese ready to chase you away from a nest site near you!

  When all of her eggs are laid (typically six to eight in total), she will uncover the cold eggs, pull feathers from her lower body to allow transfer of her body heat to the eggs, and begin sitting on the eggs to warm them up. This "incubation" continues for 28 days. During this period she stays on the nest 24/7, except for a couple of short trips for a drink of water. The male never sits on the nest. His job is to guard the nest and mother goose for the entire incubation. Twenty-eight days later, the goslings will all hatch at about the same time.

  How do we know when incubation has started? A clear sign that incubation has begun is the mother goose no longer walks around and guards the site. She is on the nest all the time. You will see her sitting throughout the day.

  While the mother goose is occupied with warming the eggs and rolling them around in the nest, the father goose is still guarding. Seeing a lone goose, where days earlier you saw two geese guarding, is an indicator the mother goose is sitting 24/7 on eggs she is incubating. When you see a lone goose guarding a site, it is very likely you will find mother goose on a nest.

  Often people call the Wildlife Rescue Center concerned about the presence of a single goose walking about a parking lot or near a building. It does not appear hurt, but it will not leave the area and challenges anyone who comes near. This is a telltale indication of a nest nearby!

April – What's happening? Only the adult geese can fly. Newly hatched goslings cannot fly. They can walk behind their parents to reach a lake where they can swim.

• Resident Geese: Those who are mated pairs will begin to see their eggs hatch. Geese usually make only one nest each spring. If the nest is destroyed they may make a second effort to renest. But, if all goes as nature plans, after 28 days (or close to that), the goslings will hatch.

  Some geese start their nests in March and some in April. We call these "early nesters" and "late nesters." So, if you are looking for nests, please begin weekly site visits beginning in March,  continuing throughout April, and into the first half of May.

  After hatching the parent geese will walk their goslings to a lake or water body, which has been selected by the female. This is a very dangerous time for geese, as they try to navigate across local roads and even interstates. The presence of concrete road dividers makes it a fatal effort.

  Geese and goslings often need a little help from their human friends to make it to the safety of a lake or river. Goslings will be about ten weeks old when they are developed enough to fly.

May – What's happening? All adult geese become flightless as they enter the summer molt!

• Resident Geese: They are raising their goslings at lakes and along the rivers in the St. Louis metro area. Goslings are flightless during this month. The adult geese will begin to drop their big feathers that allow them to fly. Other types of birds such as ducks and song birds lose a few feathers at a time during the year. Even as new feathers grow back in, these birds can fly.

  Geese are different. Most people do not realize that geese have a period of time called the molt when they cannot fly at all! If you are near a lake during this time you can find hundreds of big goose flight feathers lying all about that have fallen off the adults. The geese retain the small body feathers, so at a distance they look normal. However, if you are close to them you can see the major flight feathers are missing.

The Winter Season

December – What's happening? All geese can fly. They are pond-hopping and foraging.

• Resident Geese: They continue pond-hopping and foraging for food on grassy areas and agricultural fields. If lakes freeze over, geese will fly to lakes with working fountains to find open water.

• Winter Migratory Geese: They will also continue pond-hopping and foraging for food. If lakes freeze over, geese will fly to lakes with working fountains to find open water or, in some cases, migrate farther south.

January – What's happening? All geese can fly. They are pond-hopping and foraging.

• Resident Geese: They continue pond-hopping and foraging for food on grassy areas and agricultural fields. If lakes freeze over, geese will fly to lakes with working fountains to find open water.

• Winter Migratory Geese: They will also continue pond-hopping and foraging for food. If lakes freeze over, geese will fly to lakes with working fountains to find open water or, in some cases, migrate farther south.

February – What's happening? All geese can fly, and the spring nesting season is approaching!

• Resident Geese:These geese undergo a change in behavior. Most geese make their first nest when they are three years old. Prior to that they are regarded as "nonbreeders" and will separate from pairs of nesting geese. (Like a goose singles club!) During this time three-year-olds will select a lifelong mate and search for their first nesting site. The female determines the location of the nesting site. The site chosen is usually near where the female learned to fly. Mated pairs from previous years will separate from all other geese and return to guard their nesting site from the previous year. Watch for pairs of geese flying across our skies. These are the mated pairs. Smaller flocks of geese seen together for the next two months are typically the one- and two-year-olds, who are not breeding yet.

• Winter Migratory Geese: Get out of town! They leave the St. Louis metro area and migrate north to their native nesting grounds in the northern states or Canada.

The Summer Season

June – What's happening? All of our resident adult geese are in the molt and flightless by mid to late June.

• Resident Geese: The molt that began in May continues throughout June. Geese remain flightless for several weeks, as new feathers grow back in to replace old and damaged feathers.

  By the time the adults have their new feathers, the goslings are also ready to learn how to fly!

  So, how do geese survive danger during this summer molt? The answer is geese seek a safe place for the summer that has a large expanse of food (grass), and a large lake to which they can run with their goslings to escape danger.

  Geese prefer landscape that has a clear line of sight to spot predators. Tall grasses, bushes, and forested areas could hide predators, so this type of landscape is usually avoided by geese, especially during the the summer molt.

  The summer months are spent grazing on large expanses of grass and supervising the young as the grow.

July – What's happening? All of our resident geese remain flightless for most of the month.

• Resident Geese: Our local resident geese remain grounded for most of July. They continue to forage and raise their young. Usually, they prefer to remain close to a safe lake and food supply. If they need to seek another location their only means to do so is to walk. Of course, since their only defense is to run, walking a far distance from the safety of a water body is risky.
  By the end of July we will begin to see some adult geese flying again! Enough new flight feathers have grown in to permit them to lift off and fly for another year! The goslings have developed enough that they begin the process of learning to fly.

August – What's happening? Adult geese regain flight, and goslings begin to fly, as well.

• Resident Geese: During August all adult geese will regain their ability to fly. The goslings are now young adult birds and are flying themselves. Families of geese begin pond-hopping and foraging around the metro area once again.

Seasons in a Nutshell

Flyway Routes Taken by Migrating Geese

(We are in the Mississippi Flyway)