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Greylag Goose Calls Offer Clues to Who Will Fly Together

Research: Behaviour, Ecology

When a group of greylag geese is about to take off, the calls that answer an initial caller may offer clues about whether the group will leave—and who will fly together. In a free-living population of 133 greylag geese (Anser anser), researchers observed natural attempts to initiate group flight. They recorded which birds called, the call type, whether the attempt succeeded, and the size and composition of the resulting flying group. The study is a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Different calls were linked to different outcomes

Both the number and the identity of callers were associated with flight outcomes. More birds making calls the researchers termed “Locomotion” were linked to a greater chance of a successful departure and to larger flying groups. Those groups included both family members and birds outside the initiator’s family.

More birds making “Pre-flight” calls were also associated with a greater chance of departure. Their association with the size of the resulting group was weaker. Departures were more likely to succeed when members of the initiator’s family responded vocally.

The authors interpret the pattern as individual geese using the calling chorus to gauge how many flock members are ready to leave and, at least in some cases, whether social partners and family are responding. The stronger link between family replies and successful departures fits their view that staying close to mates and family may take priority, while larger flight groups are also associated with more “Locomotion” callers. Because the researchers observed naturally occurring attempts rather than manipulating the calls, the findings show associations, not that calls themselves cause a departure to succeed.

Sources and image credit

  1. Greylag geese (Anser anser) initiate group flight based on the number and identities of callersPrimary preprint record. The record and full text could not be opened during verification; findings were checked against an indexed abstract attributed to bioRxiv. Preprint, not peer reviewed.
  2. Greylag geese (Anser anser) initiate group flight based on the number and identities of callersIndexed abstract and author record identifying bioRxiv as the preprint server.

Image: A greylag goose (Anser anser) in flight near Marken, surrounded by a natural landscape. Photo: Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Representative photograph. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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