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| Depending on how they are used, goose calls fall into six different categories: Contact, Intent, Agonistic, Mating, Social Status, and Parental/Neonatal. Dr. Cooper refers to the contact calls as the "Here I am, where are you?", calls. While they are in the air geese call to each other to help keep the family, and especially the juveniles, together. When the family flies it forms a line or a "V" and the birds call to each other to keep in contact. When the family joins other families in a subflock the family usually flies in a straight line with the gander at the front of the family. The calling of a goose in the air is directly related to the speed of the downbeat of the wing stroke, which is when the goose contracts it's chest muscles and exhales. While a goose is flying in formation the tempo of its call is a slow herr-onk...herr-onk...herr-onk. When a goose begins to land, its wing beat gets faster as it backpedals, and the calling is a |
short, loud, fast clucking sound (cluck,
cluck, cluck, cluck) that slows after the birds have landed and
regrouped. I have also heard geese make a quiet, drawn out herr-onk
when gliding in to land. While geese are feeding they perform a contact call hunters refer to as the feeding gabble, "singing" as it is referred to by wildlife biologists. The call is a deep guttural herr-onk-onk-onk-onk. It occurs while the goose's head is down and it may not be able to see very far. This call lets geese know where the other geese are, and helps to space the geese out while they are feeding. When young goslings use this call it is a high pitched peep-peep-peep. Intent Calls The preflight call is usually performed by the gander while signaling its intention to take to the air to the rest of the family. The call starts out as a slow honk while the bird's chin is lifted, its bill points skyward and it shakes its head from side to side and flashes its white cheek |
patches as a visual signal to the other
geese. The calling becomes faster as the goose prepares to take
flight, and continues as the goose rises into the air, the calling
in time with the wing stroke. Once the birds are in the air the
calling slows with the wing stroke and may stop altogether. Agonistic Calls Agonistic (as in agonizing) or Threat Calls are intense, and therefore loud, starting out slow and becoming faster. They are often performed by both the male and the female at the same time, with the male's calls usually lower in pitch than the female's. The call is fast and may contain two different notes; herr-onk onk, herr-onk onk, or cluck-uck, cluck-uck. There are three different levels of aggression in geese, each level using the same basic call but defined by different body posture and actions. The first level of aggression is used by geese on the ground or water as they are approached by other flying geese. The geese on the ground or water extend their neck and head upward, with the mouth open and tongue out, and use a loud herr-onk onk. If the geese in the air do not land in the area occupied by other geese there is usually no further action. In the second level of aggression the goose calls with the neck extended skyward, but the head is bent toward the ground, and the head is pumped up and down while the goose calls. The action is directed toward a subdominant goose on the ground or water, and the subdominant often moves away from the dominant. In the highest level of aggression the neck is extended forward along the ground or water and the head is tilted slightly upward while the goose calls. If the subdominant goose does not move it is usually attacked, either by being bitten or |
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