Why do Geese and Ducks walk across the road?

Excellent question that I’ve wondered many a time. I had to stop for them yesterday after meeting up with our resident penguin. Last year, there was terrible carnage on the 3 lane highway that sees major truck and commuter traffic. The best hypothesis that I’ve come up with is that at their size, takeoff and landings are harder, so they can’t flit about as easily as smaller birds. They’ll only exert that energy when they’ve go a greater distance to cover.

Because they’re turned on by the honking of horns, mistaking it for a mating call.

I think it’s just obliviousness. I also see birds flying across the road at low levels, too. They don’t understand Humansland.

They do it for the same reason or reasons that chickens do. There’s your next question.

I dream of a world where fowl of all sorts can cross roads without having their motives questioned.

@Seek Ah yes. A brain dead world where people are penalized for thinking out loud.

They walk to get to better grazing areas, a new water source, morning or night time feeding/ sleeping areas.Why expend flight energy to cover short distances? Flight takes a lot of energy and conserving energy is what animals do whenever possible.

Also, it you are talking domestic ducks and geese, anything that is white, or certain other colors aside from wild Canadian geese, well…domestics do not fly. They are too heavy and at best, may flap and get airborne a couple of feet at most.

Yep. White birds can’t fly. I think they made a movie about that.

I don’t know much about ducks and geese, but when you honk the horn, perhaps it frightens them and that’s why they walk even slower, sort of like a deer frozen by fear in headlights.
Or perhaps the ones who live in urban areas are just used to people. Like pigeons. You can walk very close to them before they even think of flying off.

^^^ Yes, it’s conditioning. I feed the local park ducks and geese and they mob your car when they you coming, infact, just like my pet geese did, they recognize the sound of my car and start honking and quacking before they even see me pull up. haha
They are smart birds, very.

As a motorist in NYC sounding of your horn will cause me to slow as well.

They’re looking for that one big personal injury “score”

@stanleybmanly You would think that feather pancake on the road would send them a message that waddling across the road is not a good idea.

To get to the other side.

@janbb If it was a Penguin I would not be asking this question! ;)

@Crazydawg yeah – we waddle across streets.

Better question:

Why did the duck cross the Möbius strip?

^^Because it was interdimensional!

As Jonah Goldberg said today in a hilarious, though totally unrelated tweet,

“That is intersectional af ” [sic]

I think it’s probably about the energy required to launch an object the size of a goose compared to the calories burned through waddling 20 feet.

There’s the additional risk of landing a duck or goose at the end of that 20 foot “hop”. Pinpoint landings are not exactly the forte of birds designed to glide onto lakes. Ducks and geese for understandable reasons survey the ground or water meticulously from altitude before committing to that landing. A damaged wing is a death sentence.

Geese and ducks are also prone to serious leg injuries if chased or if they stumble, trip or fall as they are designed to be in the water a lot, paddling around not walking and especially not running. Some of the really heavy domestic breeds are very prone to leg injuries. My old 20 something pound female Embden goose broker her toe tripping and needed extensive medical care for some years due to the injury that I finally had to put her down over as she could no longer walk. Being a waterfowl fan I get extremely pissed off when I see people allow their damn dogs to chase birds in the park, the cause of a lot of injuries to these guys.