Every morning between eight and ten o’clock a pair of Canada Geese fly south past my Retreat. Usually they fly quite low, no more than twenty feet off the ground. They are always honking, living up to their nickname of Canadian Honkers. I assume they are coming from the swamps along a creek a mile north of my retreat, a favorite breeding ground of waterfowl and a well-known haunt of hunters. I have seen what I assume is the same pair of geese grazing in fields south of my retreat. In the evening they fly north, using exactly the same flight path they used in the morning. I assume they spend the night in the above-mentioned swamps.
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| The pair of love-birds that fly by my Retreat everyday |
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| Not sure if this is the goose or the gander |
This pair of geese has probably not hooked up for overnight flings. Canada geese are genuinely monogamous and pair for life in the vast majority of cases—although there are a few exceptions. Most Canada geese select a mate at age 2–3 through what biologist call “assortative mating”, tending to choose partners of similar size. Once paired, the bond is maintained year-round—not just during breeding season—which is unusual among waterfowl. Pairs that have been separated even briefly greet each other with elaborate displays upon reunion. Given that Canada geese can live 10–25 years in the wild (and reportedly up to 30-plus years), a pair can easily remain together for a decade or more. The bond is notably deep: one mate will stay beside an injured or dying partner even as the rest of the flock moves on. Surviving geese have been observed to mourn for extended periods after a mate's death.
There are exceptions. Failure to reproduce can trigger what researchers call "divorce“—pairs that fail to produce young may separate and seek new mates. If a mate for any reason dies, or is killed by hunters, the survivor typically does find a new partner—usually within the same breeding season, though some older birds that have been together many years may remain alone for a prolonged period or permanently. Also, a goose that lost a previous mate and paired as a "substitute" bond (rather than an original pairing) is more likely to be unfaithful—an observation documented by ethologist Konrad Lorenz, who recorded only three pair dissolutions in years of observation, and two involved the same gander who had lost his first mate. Males!
In short, Canada geese are among the most faithfully pair-bonded birds in North America. The bond is genuinely lifelong under normal circumstances—but "until death do they part" is more accurate, since widowed geese do generally re-pair rather than stay single forever. I can only wish a long and happy life to the pair I see pass by my retreat every day.
