The Canada goose might well be the one goose that you
are familiar with. You can't miss them, really. Huge, long-
necked, black and white honkers, there's usually a mob
of them bimbling about in your local park with
their big goosey feet. They're not in any hurry.
Consequently, they might be the easiest to spot
in the whole book. I'm including the largest, the
smallest and the fastest of our birds in this book.
This might seem a bit harsh, and is by no means
an official title, but I'm going to suggest that the Canada
goose is Britain's laziest bird.
This common resident in our towns and parks was
introduced into Britain in the late seventeenth century by
King Charles II for his private collection. They were an
instant hit among the aristocracy - 'A stripey goose, from
Canada, you say? I must have one' - and quickly spread to
many other country estates, as the latest fashion accessory.
When the toffs got bored with them and moved on
to gazelles or huge lace collars or whatever, the geese
escaped, bred and settled in. They were initially seen
as unwelcome aliens, but these lethargic waddlers have
done exceedingly well here, and have finally been
accepted as our own. You'll often see them airborne on
one of their localised migrations - except these are more
like short excursions - where they fly in a distinctive
V-shape formation. This is a wonderful display and
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