Graylag Goose

Graylag Geese (Anser Anser) are likely to be the only European geese found south of the Arctic region during summer. These primarily gray geese are resident in the southern parts of the range, thus they lag behind other geese that migrate north, bringing about their descriptive name. Among the least wary of geese, the heavy-headed, massive-billed birds are the largest and bulkiest of the ten gray geese. The bright pinkish bills and eye-rings of the slightly larger and overall paler Eastern Graylag Geese distinguish them from the orange-billed Western Graylag Geese. Their loud clanging, sonorous honks recall farmyard geese, but given that the majority of domestic geese descended from Graylags (Anser Anser), this is hardly surprising. Graylag Geese (Anser Anser) walk with a slower, more rolling gait than other geese, they are less efficient runners. They are inclined to swim more readily than many of their relatives. Unlike other geese, Graylags (Anser Anser) are difficult to capture during the flightless molt because they do not bunch up, and refuse to be herded and driven into pens, tending instead to scatter and dive. Highly gregarious outside the breeding season, flocks can number in thousands. Virtually all Graylags Geese (Anser Anser) nest south of the Arctic Circle from Iceland to the Russian east coast in a wide spectrum of boreal and temperate habitats, including mountainous regions; some pairs nest as high as 7,500 feet in Mongolia. The sedentary southern breeders may initiate nesting as early as March. Ganders are so aggressive that rivals are even pursued aerially, but even so, colonies may form with pairs as close as six feet apart. Families frequently join up shortly after hatching, sometimes forming large assemblages, when reallocation of progeny between broods commonly transpires. Goslings survival is normally high, although sea-eagles prey on young in Europe. Flocks may mob predators, and the parents of several families are apt to encircle and protect the offspring of all. Graylag Geese (Anser Anser) nest near water, often in reeds or other waterside vegetation that may be floating.