Baby Geese (Goslings): Complete Guide with Pictures

goose is a member Duck family Waterfowl family, there are two genera; brantablack goose, and wild goose, gray goose. Geese are strong, robust birds that tend to live in high latitudes, although they are also found in South Asia and South America.

Goslings are similar to ducklings and cygnets, but also unique in many ways. Read on to learn more about the goslings – there will be plenty of gosling photos along the way!

What does the goose look like?

Goslings are naturally precocious, which means they are well developed and covered in down, leaving the nest to feed almost immediately. Most goslings are covered with a yellowish down that fades to light gray to olive green towards the tips of the feathers.

Goslings are much lighter than ducklings, do not have black stripes over the eyes, and have a less defined overall color. In general, goslings are more yellow than cygnets, which tend to be light gray.

Goslings are also large, with long necks and a triangular bill that contrasts with the flat bill of ducklings.

Goslings’ downy down and stubby wings give them cuteness and personality. They leave the nest within 24 hours, making them very conspicuous throughout the breeding season, especially compared to other young birds that hide well.

Canada goose goslings foraging

How big is the goose?

Goslings are only a few inches long and about 5 to 7 inches tall, depending on the species. Goslings are much larger than ducklings and have longer necks, making them appear taller, but are much smaller than cygnets (little swans).

Geese are large birds weighing up to 5kg, and goslings grow quickly, but it takes about 1.5 years or more for goslings to reach their full size. Most geese live long and have slow reproductive cycles.

How much does a baby goose weigh?

Goslings of the larger breeds weigh over 100 grams.

• In one study, baby Canada geese weighed 103 grams.
• Another study of gray geese found an average weight of about 113 grams.
• The smaller white-fronted goslings weigh much less – around 66 grams.

Goslings are heavier (in terms of mallards) than ducklings, which weigh about 30 to 40 grams, but much lighter than cygnets, which can weigh up to 250 grams.

Young gray goose gosling on the ground

What do goslings look like?

Goslings moult after about 20 days to 1 month, when their first pre-young molt begins. This will see them lose their down and grow their first young feathers, which are fluffy and mottled for about 3 to 6 weeks, at which point new feathers begin to emerge.

The flight feathers begin about 4 to 8 weeks later, at which point some goslings will begin to fledge for their first flight. Smaller geese generally fled earlier – the lesser white-fronted goose’s fledgling period is about 45 days instead of 8 weeks.

Juveniles are duller than adults, lacking the darkest and brightest contrasting plumage. In addition, some geese have white patches or stripes on the head or neck (such as the white cheek spots of Canada geese), which goslings do not have.

Young birds retain drab, low-contrast plumage for most of their 6-month period and do not acquire their first rudimentary adult plumage for at least a year. Canada goose chicks, for example, don’t look like adults until about 1.5 years after birth, and take another year or so to reach sexual maturity.

Juvenile Canada Goose Chick (Gosling)

What do you call goose?

Goslings are known as goslings, from Old Norse gás, later adapted to English goose. Goslings may have been called “gooseling” and then simply “gosling”.

Many small waterfowl have unique names, such as ducklings and cygnets, while other small birds are often simply called “chicks.”

This may be because humans and geese have been closely related for thousands of years – geese were domesticated as early as 7,000 years ago!

What do goslings eat?

Goslings eat the same diet as their parents, consuming a wide range of seeds, grasses, roots, grains, bulbs, berries and aquatic plants.

Geese are primarily herbivores, but some species also eat small invertebrates, gastropods, crustaceans and small fish. For the most part, however, goslings feed on grasses and other vegetation.

Goslings are able to feed themselves within 24 hours of hatching and follow their parents’ cues to discover what they can and cannot eat.

Three Little Goslings (Little Goslings) foraging

Do both parents feed the goslings?

The goose parents do not feed the chicks – the chicks are perfectly capable of foraging and eating on their own.

However, parents do tell their chicks what to eat by pecking at the bushes. Goslings will follow directions from their parents but are willing to experiment by pecking at a variety of grasses and vegetation.

What do goose eggs look like?

Goose eggs are large and almost always milky white. In the case of Canada geese, eggs measure approximately 3.3 inches (8.3 cm) by 2.2 inches (5.6 cm) and weigh between 100 and 180 grams.

Goose eggs vary widely in size and weight, with the smallest eggs weighing about 60% of the largest eggs.

Smaller geese lay smaller eggs, usually weighing about 100 grams. Goose eggs are big and heavy, but much smaller than swan eggs, which weigh 350 grams!

Four large white Canada goose eggs in a nest

How long does it take for a goose egg to hatch?

Geese hatch between 26 and 34 days. Geese in cooler environments, such as the subarctic, typically experience longer hatch times, while geese in more temperate or warmer climates experience shorter hatch times.

After hatching begins, goslings take about 24 to 36 hours to hatch from the eggs.

How many babies does a goose have?

Most swans average about 5 eggs, but gray geese and Canada geese have at least been reported to have larger numbers of up to 12 eggs.

Once hatched, a litter of geese may have 5 to 10 chicks. On rare occasions, two broods merge into one, forming flocks of up to 15 birds.

In addition, mixed gosling flocks, which include members from two or more species or subspecies, have been observed – but this is very rare.

Parent gray geese and their goslings

when do geese lay eggs

Most geese lay their eggs during the typical spring breeding season, from around April to June.

However, some species will spawn in early March or even late February if the weather is mild. In subarctic regions, geese tend to lay their eggs when the first snowmelt occurs.

How long does the gosling stay with its parents?

Goslings stay in their family units for most of the year, if not longer. As summer progresses into fall, goslings remain close to their parents in the family unit, sometimes blending with other family groups.

In autumn, the goslings embark on their first migration journey with their parents. Once they return in the spring, then goslings begin to form gosling flocks while maintaining close bonds with their parents.

Goslings are not fully independent of the family until they are sexually mature, which usually takes at least two years.

Flocks of snow geese teenagers

How do geese feed their goslings?

Goose parents don’t feed their chicks – the chicks feed themselves. Goslings are naturally precocious, which means they are highly developed when they emerge from the egg. In just 24 hours, the goslings were able to forage and eat on their own, pecking at bushes and experimenting with what they could and couldn’t eat.

Although they take cues from their parents, their parents don’t feed them themselves. Goslings eat almost the same diet as their parents, mainly grass and vegetation.