Body language of migrating Canadian Geese
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- What are the body language messages that direct the landing and takeoff of a flock of migrating Canadian geese? This video will help answer some of these fascinating questions.
Peter, you are spot on with your observations, and as I'm sure you already know, there are many more signals for many more things they do. You may also have noticed that many of these behaviours are not as nuanced or are completely absent in resident flocks in urban settings. This is because much of the nuance and some signals are learned behaviour, and if you or your ancestors were raised in captivity and then released into the wild (a lot of state wildlife agencies do this) you will have no one to observe and learn from during those vital early weeks. The subtle nuances showed me straight away (before the location was mentioned in the text) that this was a central flyway flock. Pacific flyway flocks will not bring their heads up straight in line with their necks, but will instead leave their heads tipped slightly down giving the bill a more pronounced side to side swing. On eastern flyway they will start with their heads in the resting position then with an exaggerated snap motion bring it into the position with the same head motion and bill orientation the Canadas on the central flyway use.
When speaking of orders of flight, there are really two birds who matter and both are nominated by the flock in the moments before the order to take off is given ( I use the word "moments" loosely since all of this takes place in only slightly more than than the blink of an eye in real time). In the very beginning of your takeoff sequence you can see the tail end of the nomination process finishing up. The two birds being nominated are the lead bird (the one who will be at the front of the "V" at the beginning) and the one which I refer to as the "flight director". The flight leader changes quite often as as his or her energy level drops, but the flight director remains the flight director for the duration of the flight. You might have noticed that when he shakes his head he pauses ever so slightly every time his head reaches its left-most maximum, and that his bill ends up pointing a little to his left. This is an instruction to the rest of the flock to turn to a specific heading after establishing a solid flight order. It is very difficult for us to determine how great or small that turn may be since they can see magnetism, and unlike us, they can see magnetic intensities. They, like most migratory birds have tiny oil sacks in their eyes each of which has an even smaller piece of magnetite all of which is tied into tied into their optic nerves... god what I'd give to see the world with magnetism thrown into the mix, not to mention having four types of cones (compared to our three), making it possible to see into both the infrared and ultra-violate ends of the spectrum! Just give me five minutes to see the world through a goose's eyes, and not only will my mind be completely blown, but I will die a happy woman even if the remainder of my days are a nightmare (as they are shaping up to be). Allow me to magically turn into one and fly one day of their migratory journey with them and you may even be able to to convince this old agnostic that there is a heaven, because I'd be in it.
I have a question to ask of you, but I'm going to save it will either leave you thinking either that I'm right barking mad, or will leave you intrigued. I must take a break for now. I have progressive multiple sclerosis and have done as much as I can do for now.
MammaDuck thanks for your amazing insight. It was a true pleasure to read. Like you, if I was reborn as another animal I would like to be a migrating bird, while maintaining the perception of a human - that would be quite something!
Sorry for being late in my reply. I hope that you are doing well and have found a way to keep your MS at bay. My wife had a very serious life-threatening MS-type episode but recovered, so now I gratefully share a normal life with her.
I hope you are well. I would like to know the Question you were referring to. If that's still possible. I can assure you from my own personal experience that there is in fact a God.
Fascinating, hoped someone out there had researched this. They are really like a fleet of airplanes and need to be organized. It's no easy task to coordinate flying together across several hundred miles and choosing the right resting spots and times to fly.
Ruki Sar nice I see you got a trumpeter swan in your profile picture! My favorite type of waterfowls are Swans! Especially Mute,Trumpeter,Tundra,Black,Whooper,and Coscoroba Swan! That’s almost all of them! Except for 1 known as the black-necked swan. Beautiful Profile Picture did you take that yourself? :)
Absolutely fascinating. I love watching them fly, especially taking off and landing close to my head. Excellent video, and thank you for sharing this. It literally gave Canadian Goose Bumps! :)
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for this. I've always wondered how they told each other to land. Thanks again!
What a cool video, thanks for sharing. Also loved the music choice.
Fantastic! ❤❤
thanks, will look for these behaviors
Hi...Enjoyable video and commentary....Regards...Dave
Many thanks!
We love Nature
Love it
They are truly fascinating. Some golfers hate them and will beat them with their clubs. If I ever saw that happening I would give that golfer a knuckle sandwich and a pair of Irish Sunglasses! Geese have to shit just like we do. They choose a nice green spot for such activity. We choose a porcelain bowl. Theirs will be around after ours is long gone. Good!
Great comment!
Amazing ✅
Thank you! 😊
Can you tell what cam you used in filming these geese?
GH4 Panasonic camera
The Implicate Order!
Thank you. I'm 10,000 miles off. It is truly fascinating. RSA.
Get the Flock out! Haha
Informative thanks very much
This is a very educational and beautiful video.
Cool video!
I love these birds...
Me too
I personally hate these bastards. They're pricks on the ground
This is a very interesting video. Thanks to whoever made this and put it on RUclips. Amazing that we can see how they communicate.
So enjoyed the gracefulness of these Canadian Geese in flight well filmed and fascinating about how they signal to one another. Wonder if there's ever any dissention?
This was awesome!
You must mean Canada geese, not Canadian geese.
You are right!
Everyone is suddenly a rocket scientist. Just could not let it go. How about if we just call them "non-binary" geese? They mate for life like a pigeon. I have seen them drop an egg in a dirt parking lot. The ponder for about an hour deciding to leave the egg and rejoin the flock. It's a sad moment for them, I'm sure. It was just too early and the nest was not ready.
@@bocabec6744 They must be pretty confused about an environment that so much has changed rapidly due to our dominance