Date: March 18th, 2023
Location: China, Beijing, Yuanmingyuan Park
Description: The greylag goose is a type of goose that inhabits lakes, marshes, wetlands, and even urban parks. It forages at dawn, dusk, or during the night.
Appearance: The greylag goose has a plump, goose-like body with gray-brown feathers and a long neck that is slightly curved. Its head is small and round, with a prominent beak that is pinkish-orange in color. Its legs and feet are pinkish-orange and have webbed toes that help the bird swim and walk on soft ground. The male and female greylag geese look similar, although males are slightly larger than females. Moreover, juvenile birds have duller plumage and lack adults' distinctive neck rings.
Behavior: The greylag geese are gregarious birds that congregate in large groups. The pairs remain with their young and form a family group, migrating south as part of their flock in autumn and separating the following year. Greylag geese have a loud cackling "aahng-ung-ung" sound that they utter on the ground or in flight, similar to the domestic goose. In addition to that, greylag geese make unconventional sounds when threatened. The adult geese hiss when threatened, and the goslings chirp and whistle lightly. Greylag geese are primarily herbivorous and feed chiefly on grasses. They also eat leaves, berries, water plants, glean grain on cereal stubbles, and sometimes feed on growing crops, including oats, wheat, barley, buckwheat, lentils, peas, and root crops. Sometimes, they also consume small fish, amphibians, crustaceans, mollusks, and insects.
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