Darren S. Douglas, age 8, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for his question:
WHY DO GEESE FLY IN 'V' FORMATION?
Domestic geese are listed as favorite animals by many farmers. They are intelligent and often become family pets. In Europe, especially, they provide valuable income because of their feathers for stuffing quilts and pillows, their eggs which bring premium prices, their flesh for roasting and their liver which is made into a delicacy called pate de foie gras.
The web footed goose is closely related to the duck and the swan. There are about 25 different varieties living in various parts of the world, with 13 kinds of wild geese living in the United States and Canada. These birds range from 20 to 40 inches in length. All of them are migratory birds which fly south in the winter and north in the summer.
Nature arranged for the geese to fly in groups so that they could offer each other protection. Often they form into great V shaped formations. There doesn't seem to be any special reason for this, other than the pattern gives each bird lots of wing space, and it also allows them a chance to keep tabs on each other.
As the birds fly, they honk loudly and cover great distances with much speed. They have been known to fly as high as 29,000 feet above sea level.
Best known type in North America is the Canada goose. He has a broad, white band across his throat and cheeks. He ranges from Labrador and the Arctic Ocean to Mexico. The Canada goose builds his nest on a low mound in a marsh, using grass, leaves and feathers.
Geese usually eat grains and vegetables. They are cautious and often difficult to hunt. Some feed only in wide stretches of water or fields where hunters find it difficult to hide. A few members of the flock always seem to stand guard against any possible danger, while the remainder of the flock feeds.
Geese walk better on dry land than ducks or swans because their legs are longer and nearer the middle of their bodies. They have heavy layers of down under their dense plumage. The geese rub their feathers with an oil produced by a gland near their tails. This oil waterproofs their bodies.
Geese have long lives and sometimes reach an age of more than 30 years in captivity. Domestic geese mate for life.
Oil slicks on large bodies of inland water created by ships can often cause wild geese great trouble. The oil may soak their feathers so that the geese are unable to fly and sometimes they starve.
Domestic geese grow much larger than their wild ancestors, and they have also lost their ability to fly. They can take short flights, but they have given up migratory habits.