The traditional nesting season for Canada Geese is from March-May. Here in Florida, where the Geese populations are steadily increasing, we see nests earlier and earlier each year. A few factors could lead to this, but first, you need to know the basics about Canada Geese nesting.
Canada Geese usually have the same mate for life unless one dies. If this occurs, the birds will often find a new mate within that same breeding season. Geese are tundra nesters, meaning they prefer a low vegetation area close to a large water source. Each nest can contain anywhere from 1-10 eggs, but the average is 5-6 with an incubation period of 25-30 days. Once hatched, the young geese called goslings can walk, swim, and feed within 24 hours and start to fly in about ten weeks. Once they reach three years old, the geese will begin nesting with their partners. They will try to return to their birthplace to nest, which is why it takes Goose Masters a few nesting seasons to break the cycle and persuade the geese to nest elsewhere.
There are two main factors in geese nesting earlier and earlier each year, lack of food and climate change. Since the same geese will return to their birthplace, populations can increase drastically over a few years, putting a strain on available nesting spaces as well as food. As these areas are developed and landscaped, it takes away the natural vegetation that many animals depend on for food and a safe place to nest. Due to the rising temperatures, vegetation and fish populations are blooming and reproducing earlier in the year, why shouldn't these birds follow their food source's timing!
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