Photo: A Greater white-fronted goose, in flight, courtesy Wikipedia. What’s his big hurry?
Reportedly, it’s not completely unheard of for a Canada goose and a white-fronted goose to mate — but it’s unusual.
I’ve seen plenty of Canada geese visiting Archuleta County during “goose tourism season” — in the spring and fall. These are the literally “snow birds” that spend the bulk of the year either in Canada during the summer, or in Phoenix or Houston during the winter.
We’re not sure if the pattern of visiting the U.S. will continue, however, considering the current political situation. They are, after all, “Canada” geese.
Apparently, Portland Oregon historically gets its share of Canadian visitors, including various species of geese who had been hanging out in the northern reaches were food is plentiful. Some of the geese claim Canadian nationality, and are known ad Canada geese. This year, one unusual couple has drawn the attention of local birders. Oregon Public Broadcasting’s April Ehrlich posted a story on the NPR website about two geese finding love despite their differences.
From Ms. Ehrlich’s story:
There are lots of geese at this regional park along the Columbia River outside Portland, so rangers weren’t surprised when they found a Canada goose nesting near some picnic benches. But there was something strange about the other goose guarding the nest…
When geese get married — and we’re talking here about a long tradition — they normally married someone of their own species. But the male goose helping to guard this particular nest was not a Canada goose. It was a great white-fronted goose, who had hooked up with a Canada goose.
These are two totally different species of goose. They’ve paired up and actually produced eggs. There are huge flocks of Canada geese around this park. But this male white-fronted goose is kind of a lone ranger.
He wasn’t traveling with birds of the same feather; he was hanging out with a Canada goose, for whatever reasons. We can only guess what those reasons might be.
I appreciate Ms. Ehrlich’s use of the term “lone ranger”, because white-fronted geese have a patch of white on their faces that makes it look like they are wearing a mask.
Of course, if we’re thinking about the actual “Lone Ranger” of TV and movie fame, he wore a black mask. And I don’t recall him hooking up with anyone, on a marriage basis. He tended to have male friends. And male enemies.
For her NPR story, Ms. Ehrlich interviewed three scientists who offered up some theories about why a Canada goose and a white-fronted goose might try to have children together.
This assumes that they were actually thinking about children.
I will be the first to confess that my ex-wife Darlene and I were not thinking about children when we got together. The furthest thing from my mind, anyway.
It’s possible that Darlene was actually thinking about children all along, but she didn’t give me that impression.
One of the scientists in the NPR story, Rob Wilson, suggested that the white-fronted goose may have thought he was a Canada goose.
Canada geese and white-fronted geese are known to parasitize other nests. That just basically means that a female will dump one of its eggs in another species’ nest.
Which I guess is sort of like putting your kid in daycare and letting an underpaid childcare worker do most of the work. If this happened to a white-fronted baby goose, for example, he might grow up and find himself attracted to Canada geese because they looked like his mother.
Darlene didn’t look anything like my mother, but she acted like my mother. Especially when she was in a bad mood.
As for inter-species goose couples like the one in the Portland park, they’re not unheard of. Scientists even have a word for it: ‘hybridization’.
I fully believe that’s what happened with Darlene and me. Hybridization. That would explain why our kids grew up confused about relationships.
The NPR story ended with a somewhat depressing conclusion.
EHRLICH: Geese are basically grass-eating machines, so they’re drawn to parks. The white-fronted goose could have stopped at this park because there was so much food and at least one lady interested in pairing up. They haven’t had any viable eggs yet, but Katy Weil, the regional natural resource scientist, says there’s still time left this spring.
WEIL: So many people who love the park are keeping an eye out for them, and they’re rooting for them. We have park rangers doing the same.
EHRLICH: Geese typically mate for life. Weil says this unlikely couple will likely stay by each other’s sides.
But you never know. It could possibly have a happy ending, right?
And not end up in a nasty divorce?
I mean… these are geese, not humans.
Like, where were all the park rangers who could have been rooting for Darlene and me?
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.