Canada Goose hanging around with the Swans?

[Amoeba]

This is something I've never witnessed before. I live in Edinburgh, and I can't say I've seen a canada goose very often (once last year and this one bird this year). The one I saw last year was a glimpse of a solitary bird that I never saw again.

However the one I want to talk about can be found with a lot more predictability. For the past five days or so it has been following the local family of swans about (2 adults and 2 cygnets). The swans don't appear to mind the goose being there at all, and the goose always stays close to them.

What could this mean? Any suggestins on what's going on here would be great, thanks.

[squishy]

i'm stumped

[Hedge Witch]

I don't know - it's very interesting.

With birds it's often "safety in numbers", so there may be a clue here.

[Amoeba]

Ah, so I'm not the only one baffled by this.

Originally Posted by Hedge Witch

I don't know - it's very interesting.

With birds it's often "safety in numbers", so there may be a clue here.

That's the first thought that came to mind, but it was just a passing suggestion my mind made. I still can't figure out why the swans tollerate it yet show agression to other birds on the canal.

[Dae]

I hadn't ever heard about it, but I just looked it up and saw a bit on Reuters videos, which showed mute swans "adopting" a group of graylag goslings. The theories are either that the swans adopted them when the parents disappeared, or that the swans pushed out the parents and took over the nesting site to hatch/raise the goslings on their own.

So perhaps it's the same with this family, with the same theories. No one really seems to know why it happens, but it does seem to happen every now and again.

[Kev-B]

Could it be because the Canada can do almost everything the Swans can do ??

That broadly speaking .. they can "see" one another at a similar eye level ??

That the Swans tolerate/accept it as just being a "funny looking" cousin ??

There's no scientific basis for any of the above suggestions .. they're merely that .. suggestions ...

Bye for now ..

Kev ..

[Amoeba]

Dae: That might have been possible, but I've been watching these swans for a few years now and regularly keep tabs on how many chicks they have. They had three of their own this year (unusual actually, last year they started with seven and the year before they started with six), one of which went missing or died, and this canada goose has only been around for the past week or so. It looks fully grown too.

Though I won't rule it out that they could have adopted it just recently, since it's a similar shape to the cygnets except the cygnets are a bit bigger.

Kev-B: Interesting way of looking at it. I did think of that too but I was just so unsure, since they are different in some ways but I did notice them behaving very similar and the fact that the goose looks like a smaller cygnet (except for that black and white head of course).

[aeshna5]

Outside the breeding season they often tolerate each other ok, but in the breeding season Mute Swans often show great aggression towards Canada Geese, chasing themoff, smashing eggs + even drowning goslings.

As individuals the degree of aggression varies between them.

[Kev-B]

As Aeshna says .. aggression varies widely between individuals .. when I lived in London .. I witnessed a Mute Swan chase, attack & hold the head of a Canada Goose under water for what seemed like quite a long time .. the Canada made what's best described as a "tactical withdrawal" to a distant part of the lake ..

Also, on a recent visit to WWT Slimbridge, I saw a Mute Swan pick up a female Mallard by the neck & hurl it out of the way .. so it could get to seed being thrown around by some children .. everyone who saw this just looked at one another a bit stunned ..

Bye for now ..

Kev ..