As the number of people who watch the local wild birds in their area continues to increase, the number of questions that we keep seeing from people about the various type of local birds and their behaviors are also steadily increasing too.
This ranges from why certain birds will only eat certain foods to specific behaviors of birds to seemingly off and strange things that some birds end up getting up to.
One of the questions that we have noticed more and more people asking recently is why would a goose be alone when geese are usually not solitary animals.
It is great to see so many people reaching out worried about the animals in their local areas and trying to make sure their local bird populations are safe and happy.
We have seen a number of discussions on social media about why some geese may be alone with some people raising some good points but some of the points that we see people raising are incorrect.
This is coupled with how many people we see reaching out to ask why a goose would be alone is why we have decided to publish our own article on all of the single geese that people see as well as the common causes that people see a goose all alone.
Our hope is that we will be able to help any of our readers who do like to watch the local birds, particularly geese in their area better understand why this may be occurring and help put your mind at ease.
Why Would A Goose Be Alone?
The most common reason that you will see a goose alone is due to it not having found itself a mate yet.
Other common reasons that you may see a goose alone include the goose having found a partner but the partner food having died for some reason or the goose and its partner having been accidentally separated for some reason during a storm or that the goose either is or was someone’s pet.
There are some less common reasons that you may see a goose alone but those four are the most common causes.
The main one, the goose not having found a mate yet is often only temporary as the majority of young geese in an area with a healthy goose population will often find a suitable mate within a couple of months of reaching maturity and then the two will mate for life.
If a goose and its mate do end up separated for whatever reason, it is actually pretty common for the two to be able to find each other again as it is rare that they will be separated by such a distance that their calls are not able to be heard by the other goose.
Some geese that have been kept as pets or as farm geese often don’t behave as other geese and rather than seeking a mate, they will seek a bond with a human instead so this is why some geese that you see who are alone may come right up to you expecting to be fed and petted.
Do Geese Get Lonely?
Geese are social birds and can get lonely in some situations, especially if a goose is alone.
Depending on the specific species of geese, this may not be an issue as it can simply join another flock of geese and potentially find a new mate but some geese will start to act differently if their mate dies and end up becoming lonely and not interact with other geese.
More and more people are starting to keep backyard chickens, ducks, and geese as part of their own organic, healthy living food programs with geese often being the least popular option due to only laying eggs seasonally.
Still, if you are looking to keep your own geese then we would highly recommend that you keep a minimum of at least two geese, a male, and a female to prevent the geese from getting lonely with most people keeping four geese of two breeding pairs as a minimum.
If you do observe your local wildlife and you do notice a wild goose that is alone try to keep your distance from it as some geese species can be naturally territorial.
This aggression from the goose can then be increased if it has lost its mate and it may charge you in the area that it deems its home.
Some people are not aware of this behavior in geese and then are surprised when they end up getting charged or chased so we just want to make our readers aware of this.
What Should You Do If A Goose Is Alone?
If you do find a goose that is alone there is usually nothing that you are able to do to help the goose other than potentially trying to ask people in your local area if they have seen another goose that is alone that may be the lost mate of the goose.
If a goose has lost its mate then just leaving it to set up its new home or try to join a new flock is often the best thing to do.
As we mentioned earlier in the article though, some geese that you may see alone are pets that have escaped and are used to being alone as well as with interacting with humans.
These geese usually act totally different to wild geese and them may come right up to you to be fed or to try and play with you. These geese do often have some sort of ring or tag on them so you are able to identify them with the owners contact details often being on the ring.
If you do find a pet goose then you can often reunite it with its owner if they do have a ring or tag on them with their owners details.
Fewer people tend to electronically tag their pet birds compared to dogs and cats though so there is usually no need to try have a single goose electronically checked for tag details.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over why a goose would be alone to an end. We hope that we have been able to explain why a goose may be alone and unfortunately, solo geese are becoming increasingly popular. Still, as we mentioned earlier in the article, the most common reason that a goose will be alone is due to it not having found a mate yet and within a few months, this will usually change and there is no need to try and do anything to help the pet goose.
