Our usual wintering geese are gathering around Salem and along the Willamette River. They will be especially numerous at local national wildlife refuges—Tualatin River, Baskett Slough, Ankeny, Finley. But they will use golf courses, soccer fields, large lawns, marshes and ponds.

Who are these honkers, anyway? It is a complex answer because there is nothing simple about the genetics, taxonomy, heritage, or distribution of the dark geese with a white chin-strap. The now-recognized species of cackling goose was first ordained by the American Ornithological Union in 2004.  Before that, this smallest goose with a chin strap was considered one of many sub-species of Canada goose. Now there are five sub-species of cackling goose, officially. There are seven subspecies currently recognized for the larger Canada goose. 

Here every autumn the cacklers arrive from western Alaska. They stay until early spring. Their voices are higher-pitched than the larger geese. Their heads are more round, beaks shorter. Overall a cackler will weigh 3.5 pounds or less. It’s about two feet long. That’s about the length of the mallard, though mallards are less muscular and a pound lighter weight.  It is not uncommon to see several thousand cacklers darken a green grassy field during our cold season. You may hear and see a V-formation pass overhead.

All year long we have resident Canada geese. They were distributed west of the Cascades back in the 1960s, before then geese were in Willamette Valley only outside breeding season. Now, what I refer to as “golf course geese” thrive in our urban and suburban environment where they can’t be hunted.  The adults are extremely cautious and protective parents. I’ve seen coyote run the other way to avoid an aggressive father goose who out-weighs and out-flies the lean dog. If Mr. Goose hits you with his strong wing bone, the damage is serious. A large Canada can weigh 10-18 pounds, and have a body four feet long. The largest wild Canada male weighed 24 pounds, with a wingspan over 7 feet. Most of the geese from the real Canada are smaller, down to half that size. Generally, the further they must migrate, the smaller the goose.

The confusion arises when the various northerly sub-species begin arriving.  Some from inland are paler than the cacklers and other coastal varieties.  Because of our wet winter, lack of heavy snow and plethora of green grass, geese from various parts of northern North America come here for winter vacation, and eating.

Sometimes you can find a mixed flock and really note the size difference between big and small, deep voice and cackle.  The one thing they share: appetite. Geese eat grass, seeds, insects, occasional fish. They also eat plants that grow in marshes. Time to get out there and count the geese.

Further reading:

Information on Canada Goose hunting in Oregon.

Previous report on how the “golf course goose” got here.

For information about upcoming Salem Audubon programs and activities, see www.salemaudubon.org, or Salem Audubon’s Facebook page.

Harry Fuller is an Oregon birder and natural history author of “Freeway Birding” and the newly-published “Birding Harney County.” He is a member of the Salem Audubon Society. Contact him at [email protected] or atowhee.blog. His “Some Fascinating Things About Birds” column appears regularly in Salem Reporter.

A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE.

Harry Fuller

Harry Fuller is an Oregon birder and natural history author of three books: “Freeway Birding,” "Great Gray Owls of California, Oregon and Washington," and "San Francisco's Natural History--Sand Dunes to Streetcars." He leads birding trips for the Malheur Field Station. He is a member of the Salem Audubon Society, and leads bird trips locally. Harry has just published a new book, BIrding Harney County.