HERBIVORES
They have to be highly selective in their feeding choice because there digestive
system is relatively simple. With their grazing, they can have a complicated
interaction with the vegetation, stimulating regrowth by their droppings and changing
the composition of the sward.
MIGRATORY
They are migratory birds, needing a long period of preparation and fattening.
Decisions on optimal timing are dependent on the situation in a chain of stop-over
sites.They flock and concentrate in well-defined areas.
LARGE
Geese are large birds, which allow individual coded rings or neckbands. They are big
enough to carry devices like satelite transmitters and they are not to much stressed by
handling. Geese are easily kept in captively which makes various experiments
possible.
SOCIAL
Geese are social animals. Within flocks there exist a dominance hierarchy. The birds
are monogamous and the offspring stays with the parents for almost a year. Learning
is vey important and determines the behaviour of the individual.
VARIATION
There is a lot of variation between species in their ability to utilize specific food types
and to survive predation. Not only between species, but also within species variation
is recognized in individual based studies.
APPLIED SCIENCE
Geese compete with farmers on agricultural land and the distribution of the geese is
largely affected by the management of the feeding areas. With the population
increase, the conflict with agriculture has been intensified. Much research is focussed
on alternative methods to decrease the damage.