Zoöp Observations: Hatching Canada GeeseZoöp Observations: Hatching Canada Geese

There were stories going round. A pair of aggressive Egyptian geese had made the terrace of the New Institute unsafe. One of them attacked an employee of the cafe; another would be incubating in a planter. I decided to see what's what. I hadn't seen the Egyptian geese for weeks after their appearance in the large pond in January. Had they returned, or did another pair take their place?

Misconception 1: the Egyptian geese turned out to be Canada geese. They calmly floated on the water and let themselves be approached fairly easily. At first they hissed a little to deter me, but soon accepted my presence. I was able take a picture of them from a meter or two away. In a planter on the terrace I found a clutch of four eggs, barely camouflaged with dead plant material. The pair meekly allowed me to inspect the clutch.

Misconception 2: there was no hatching going on yet. Only when the female Canada goose (Branta canadensis) finishes laying all of her eggs does she start incubating, so that they all hatch simultaneously. Canada geese lay four to eight eggs; incubation could not be far off.

When I visited the terrace again a week later, that turned out to be the case. This time the geese acted a little less docile. When I got close to the nest the female goose reared, hissed, and spread her wings. That allowed me a glimpse at the nest, now consisting of six eggs. To offer the geese a bit more privacy, and to minimize the risk of confrontations with terrace visitors, I placed some other planters around the planter with the nest. Hopefully that'll suffice as a buffer. If all goes well the eggs should hatch mid-May.