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Canada goose families merging into big flocks after the summer molt
When: July to November
After the flightless summer molt ends in late July, Canada goose families in eastern Massachusetts pool into growing flocks that graze fields and gather on ponds through fall.
Why this time of year
Adult geese were flightless during the midsummer molt and regained flight around late July, so from then into fall the broods join into bigger flocks that trade between water and feeding fields.
How to notice it
- Scan farm fields, playing fields, and pond edges where geese gather to graze.
- Inside a big flock, look for small clusters that feed, walk, and fly together; goose families stay together through the young birds' first year.
- Toward evening, listen for honking and watch lines of geese moving between feeding fields and water.
Try this with kids: Can you spot smaller family groups inside the larger flock?
During the summer molt, adult geese replace their flight feathers and cannot fly until the new ones grow in.
Sources
- massaudubon.orgPairs and broods reform into flocks when juveniles are four to six weeks old; adults molt and are flightless during brood-rearing, regaining flight in late July; flocks then spend the rest of the season grazing fields or in shallow water; eastern Massachusetts geese show little tendency to migrate and shift to rivers such as the Sudbury and Concord.
- massaudubon.orgYoung stay with their parents through the first year; Massachusetts breeders do not typically migrate, moving instead to open water.
In the guide for July, August, September, October, November