Goose Communication Research and Goose Calling

[T.R. Michels]

This is from my Duck & Goose Addict's Manual. It is copyrighte, for use here only for reading.

I hope it helps you understand goose vocalizations better.


Goose Vocalizations
Depending on how they are used, goose calls fall into six different categories: Agonistic, Contact, Intent, Mating, Parental/Neonatal and Social Status. Goose resarcher Dr. Cooper refers to the Contact calls as the ?Here I am, where are you?? calls. While they are in the air geese call to each other to help keep the family, and especially the juveniles, together. When the family flies it forms a line or a ?V? and the birds call to each other to keep in contact. When the family joins other families in a subflock the family usually flies in a straight line or "V" with the gander at the front of the family.

     The calling of a goose in the air is directly related to the speed of the downbeat of the wing stroke, which is when the goose contracts its chest muscles and exhales. While a goose is flying in formation, the tempo of its call is a slow herr-onk...herr-onk...herr-onk. When a goose begins to land, its wing beat gets faster as it backpedals, and the calling is a short, loud, fast clucking sound (cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck) that slows after the birds have landed and regrouped. I have also heard geese make a quiet, drawn out herrr-onk when gliding in to land.

     While geese are feeding they perform a contact call hunters refer to as the feeding gabble, or ?singing? as it is referred to by wildlife biologists. The call is often a guttural herr-onk-onk-onk-onk. It occurs while the goose?s head is down and it may not be able to see very far. This call lets geese know where the other geese are, and helps to space the geese out while they are feeding. When young goslings use this call it is a high pitched peep-peep-peep.

Agonistic/Threat Calls
Agonistic (as in agonizing/arguing) or Threat Calls are intense and therefore loud, starting out slow and becoming faster. Both the male and the female goose often perform these calls at the same time, with the male?s calls usually lower in pitch than the female?s call. The call is fast and may contain two different notes; herr-onk onk, herr-onk onk, or cluck-uck, cluck-uck.

Intent/Preflight Call
The Preflight or Intent call is usually performed by the gander while signaling its intention to take to the air to the rest of the family. The call starts out as a slow honk while the bird?s chin is lifted, its bill points skyward and it shakes its head from side to side and flashes its white cheek patches as a visual signal to the other geese. The calling becomes faster as the goose prepares to take flight, and continues as the goose rises into the air, the calling in time with the wing stroke. Once the birds are in the air the calling slows with the wing stroke and may stop altogether.

Triumph/Mating Call
The gander uses the Triumph or Mating Call in the spring when it has claimed a territory. The call is a loud series of honks performed with the head erect. This excited call starts out fast then slows down as the mood of the goose returns to normal. During the call the neck and head of the goose are extended upward.

Parental/Neonatal Calls
There has been little research on parental and neonatal calls of geese, but Dr. Cooper says that both parents respond to the soft peep-peep-peep of the young goslings shortly after they hatch. I have heard adults perform a soft, nasal unk while they were with the young, or as the family fed. I suspect that both these calls are a form of social contact call used between parents and young.

Social Status Call
The Social Status or Greeting Call occurs between two family members after they have been separated, usually when the female returns to the nest, or after a male has driven off a predator or another goose that has invaded its territory. The call starts out as a loud slow honk that becomes faster, and then slower and quieter as the goose runs out of air. During the call the neck and head of the goose are extended upward.

God bless and good hunting,

T.R.