The Crazy Reason Why Geese Can’t Fly Right Now

If you've felt like the geese in your neighborhood are extra annoying lately, you're not crazy. There's actually a legit reason why you keep seeing Canada geese around and why they're always in big groups this time of year.

Geese Can't Fly Right Now

The reason is simple: Geese can't fly right now! Weird, right? We're so used to seeing geese flying overhead, but this time of year, they literally aren't able to fly.

Right now, we're in the middle of the geese's molting season.

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Geese Molting Season

All birds molt their flight feathers, but usually they molt a few at a time. That way, the bird is still able to fly.

But for some reason, that's not how geese molting works.

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Geese will molt all of their flight feathers at the same time and be unable to fly while their flight feathers grow back.

This is also, conveniently, when baby geese (aka: goslings) are born. So at the same time that the goslings aren't able to fly, the parents aren't either, and they're forced to stay on the ground with their babies.

However, this can obviously cause major issues.

Trouble During Geese Molting Season

Since the geese can't fly, Wild Goose Chasers writes that the geese usually try to find an area with plenty of food and a body of water, and they stay there for the 1.5-2 months that they spend ground-bound.

If they find what they want in an area that they aren't wanted (let's say a golf course, for example), someone needs to act quickly before they start molting, or that family of geese will be there for a while.

When Are Geese Unable to Fly?

We're in the middle of when geese are flightless. Mass.gov writes that geese will molt their feathers in late June. They'll be on the ground and unable to fly until the end of July.