Can geese freeze to death? Let’s find out and kick it off with a story.
A sad story tells of a goose that was discovered nearly dead in the snow outside an entranceway to a house located in a town not far from Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.
The bird appeared to have made its way from the pond towards the house, searching for warmth.
The thing is, the goose’s bill had frozen shut, which meant it hadn’t been able to feed.
It had probably fled from the other birds in the pond to escape being pecked to death, so basically, she had come to the house to die in peace.
However, good fortune was with the goose, and she (turns out ‘it’ was a ‘she’) was discovered just in time by one of the children in the house.
She was taken indoors, warmed up carefully, and fed. Near to death because of the extreme cold and hunger, but uninjured, the goose eventually made a full recovery and now lives in an Icelandic zoo.
She’s called Frostrós, meaning ‘Frostrose,’ which is kind of sweet.
Table of Contents
Can Geese Freeze to Death?
Geese certainly can and, unfortunately, sometimes do freeze to death. Certain species of geese can withstand amazingly low temperatures, surviving the cold in weather that is several degrees below zero. However, geese don’t often die of freezing if healthy and well-fed.
The Factors That Help Prevent Geese from Freezing to Death
Four factors help geese avoid freezing to death in conditions that would be lethal to many other birds. These are species, natural body features, availability of food, and shelter.
Species
All men were created equal (although I’m not so sure about that; plenty of us seem to have tremendous difficulty chasing down Husain Bolt, for example), but for sure, different species of geese tolerate cold with starkly different levels of competence.
Three breeds of geese, which also happen to be domesticated, do pretty well in freezing weather. These are the Pilgrim, the Embden, and the Toulouse.
Pilgrim geese are so cotton-pickin’ hardy that they don’t even use shelter in most sub-zero conditions, shrugging off the cold with surprising disdain.
Pilgrims are odd geese for another reason; they are quite friendly and affable with humans, which makes them excellent pets.
Embden geese are classically colored white geese with delightfully fluffy, pure white coats of cold-beating feathers.
Embden geese have such full coats that they can use them to cover their beak and feet when things get unbearably cold.
Thus protected, these geese can weather the most adverse of conditions and pull through.
Toulouse geese are heavy-set geese, quickly reaching 25 pounds. Toulouse geese use all that fat to significant effect when the weather turns harsh to keep themselves warm and avoid freezing.
However, Toulouse are not quite so don’t-give-a-damn as Pilgrim geese and so are grateful to take shelter in a shelter.
Natural Body Features
If there is enough food, geese will feed during the short winter days, and their bodies will efficiently convert calories to fat.
Later, at night, these clever bodies burn the fat to keep the bird warm and stave off hypothermia and freeze to death.
Another clever trick geese have is that they can lower their metabolism. They probably don’t do this consciously but have it as an autonomous body regulation mechanism.
Using this technique, geese can shut down the wasteful loss of heat and keep all the warm blood in and around vital organs where it is particularly needed.
The most important physiological feature in geese for protection against the cold is probably their down.
Goose down is such an advanced insulator that we humans are still unable to create anything like it even with all our science.
Goose down is a superb insulator, and as virtually any experienced outdoorsy type will typically tell you, there isn’t a better insulator in existence.
Without the down, the goose would be cooked.
Availability of Food
Malnourishment is probably the most important environmental factor that negatively impacts a goose’s ability to survive the cold.
Without food, the goose will not be able to build up the fat reserves it desperately needs if it is to stay warm when the temperature dips.
Also, as with other animals and humans, a malnourished goose is less likely to be healthy, adversely affecting its ability to avoid becoming frozen.
In the rest of this article, I constantly refer to species of geese flying south for winter.
While that is entirely true, you will occasionally notice some populations among species that winter in the north flying south.
The shortage of food in their northern habitat triggers this behavior. The geese instinctively realize that they would not survive winter in the north, given the unavailability of food in their area.
Shelter
Being out on a frozen lake in the dead of night with a howling arctic wind blowing up a storm is a bird of another feather entirely, to speak (sorry for the pun).
Wind chill can be even deadlier than it is unpleasant.
A strong wind will cut through even the miracle of goose down, exposing the bodies of geese to the cutting wind and possibly to fatal hypothermia.
However, if geese can find suitable shelter that shields them from the wind, their chances of survival rise dramatically.
Why Geese’s Feet Don’t Freeze (Easily)
Geese have a unique biological feature that helps them maintain their core body temperature and protect their feet from being frostbitten.
The feature is called “countercurrent blood circulation” and involves an arrangement of arteries (vessels taking blood away from the heart) and veins (vessels taking blood back to the heart) so that most of the warm blood in the arteries is constantly heating the cool blood in the veins.
In geese – as with many other winter birds – there is a special design that lets blood flow from arteries back into veins without passing through body surfaces, which would mean much more heat loss to the cold air.
Frequently Asked Questions about Geese Freezing to Death
Do geese always fly south for winter?
Many species of geese do indeed ‘vacation’ in the south for winter, but by no means is it all species. Those geese species that can’t stand the cold take the hint and pack up and hop it to warmer climes. On the other hand, some geese species can tough out winter in the frozen north.
Can geese get frostbite?
Geese can get frostbite on their feet and legs if it gets too cold, although Embden geese can deploy their coats to protect their feet from directly touching cold surfaces and beaks from direct exposure to the air. Hence, Embden geese are probably the least prone of all geese to getting frostbite.
Afterword: Can Geese Freeze to Death?
Food is of vital importance to those geese that don’t winter in the south but stay behind to brave harsh northern winters.
These geese have several body mechanisms and features that go a long way to protect them from the cold.
However, the availability of food, the health of the individual bird, and the length of time a cold spell persists mean that sometimes, sadly, geese can indeed freeze to death.
