When they hear the word goose, many people immediately think of the word “Martin”: because of the goose Martin or Martin, the wild goose that Nils Holgersson flies over Sweden in Selma Lagerlöf’s children’s book. In addition, Gander Martin is the roommate of the couple ornithologist Heinroth in their famous share of the bird’s apartment; And let’s not forget the female specimen Martina, the greylag goose chick of Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz, who became world famous thanks to the heart-warming wi-wi-wi calls. They all appear in a new publication worth reading: The Big Book of Goose.
Four authors, all members of the Wetland and Waterfowl Research Institute, compiled the current state of animal research. They spread in readers their enthusiasm for the heavenly messengers who announce the change of seasons in spring and autumn with their prayers and formations of V.
“Geese are only human”
In the richly illustrated book, one learns a lot about the social structures of geese, and about lifelong partnerships, including the deep bond between parents and chicks, which often lasts for years. We read that the divorce rate in geese is unusually low, but increases in pairs that breed unsuccessfully several times. Or that pairs of young geese spend 100% of the time together, but the duration decreases over the years, for some pairs by half. That’s when Konrad Lorenz’s sneer comes to mind: “Geese are human too.” However, geese and geese always stay in touch with loud calls, even if they are moving away from each other.
The authors provide exciting insights into their lives as researchers when they take us to Kolgojev Island in the Barents Sea. On this arctic island there is only one indigenous village, but there are hundreds of thousands of white geese, barnacle geese, and bean geese that breed in the short arctic summers and then winters again in Europe. What an effort the animals make for a round trip! There is a clear explanation for why geese make such strenuous hikes. Also why wedge configurations perform so well aerodynamically.
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