Canadian geese are invaders with a liking for man-made environments
This familiar resident of city parks fouls paths and lawns. Bossy and aggressive, it’s accused of bullying the Greenland whitefronted goose, a vulnerable species. Eight years ago, Canadas were implicated in a notorious aviation accident which inspired a major film (Sully). Now the birds are in trouble again; the authorities at one of the world’s great seats of learning, King’s College Cambridge, claim that geese there have become a threat to health and safety.
‘Canada honkers’ are native to North America; those on this side of the Atlantic are descendants of ones brought to England in the 17th Century. Charles II introduced Canadas to his wildfowl collection at St. James’s Park in 1665. The greyish brown body, black head and neck, are distinctive. Gleaming white face patches extend up from the chin. Breeding throughout England and Wales, Canadas have doubled their numbers in recent decades. We haven’t many in Ireland; breeding is mostly confined to the Erne catchment area and the lakes of drumlin country in the northwest. American vagrants are seen occasionally among visiting whitefronts on the Wexford slobs.
