Are Canadian geese flying back already?

As of July 20, Canadian geese were seen in our Park City skies much earlier than usual, and I kind of wondered why their migration South began so early. The kind of observation that makes people say things like “This year the winter is gonna come early” or popular saying along these lines.

In fact, what seems to be an early fall migration period compared to a more traditional late September to November time-frame could be attributed to several factors. To begin with, studies suggest that climate change is affecting bird migration patterns, leading to shifts in timing, altered routes, and even changes in physical characteristics like body size and wing length. 

The specific timing of goose migration can be influenced by local weather conditions, food availability, and day length. Even if not undertaking a full migration, geese may make local movements or stopovers to find suitable feeding and resting areas, particularly if their usual habitats are disturbed or food resources become scarce which could be the case in the unusually dry summer we’ve been experiencing all over Park City and Utah this season. Also, a significant portion of Canadian geese, especially in urban or suburban areas, have become non-migratory and remain in the same location year-round. 

Finally, there’s what is called “Molting and Flight Training”. Molting means shedding old feathers to make way for a new growth. Adult geese undergo a molting period in the summer (June-July), during which they shed their flight feathers and are temporarily unable to fly. As new “pilots”, goslings also begin their flight training during the summer months, taking short, awkward flights in preparation for the upcoming fall migration. These activities might result in increased aerial activity during July. 

With these new facts I’ve just learned in mind, I’ll be a little bit more circumspect the next time I see Canadian geese flying over Park City as to their reasons for doing it. Between us, I’m a tad skeptical of the training necessitated by new feather or for educating new pilots… Frankly, I thought they were trying to cross over to Mexico before Trump had finalized his hefty tariffs, but that might just be another good reason among many!