Graylag goose

The graylag goose is a large, powerful bird with gray-brown feathers and a gray-black piebald breast plumage. It is a stem form of the domestic goose. The powerful beak and pink-orange webfeet are another characteristic. The graylag goose breeds in loose colonies over northern and central Europe in well camouflaged soil nests on the edge of waters. Greylag geese are migratory birds, but there are also true-to-life colonies. Greylag geese have become famous due to the researches of Korand Lorenz. All gray geese in the Almtal come from the colony of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center.

Type name: Gray Dance
Scientific name: Anser anser
Class: birds
Order: goosey
Family: Geese
Weight: about 2500 - 4000 g
Characteristics: Large, strong birds with gray-brown feathers and gray-black piebald breast plumage. Strong beak, legs with webbed skins, pink to orange
Life expectancy: over 20 years possible
Enemies: birds of prey, fox, human
Breeding season: March - April
Clutch: up to 8 eggs
Breeding time: approx. 28 days
Food: Pure herbivore (grass, herbs, aquatic plants, crop residues of harvested fields)

Did you know, that ...
greylag geese can fly on their way to their winter quarters up to 6000 m high and over 3000 km by using “jet streams” (strong tailwinds)?