Intelligence Of Geese

What Makes Geese Intelligent?
​I do not mean every goose is intelligent. Some are just there for the food and never check stuff out. But I believe one of the most important things is that they peck at all kinds of things. They peck at trees and wood. They peck at my shoelaces. They peck at trailers. Not all of them do it so I believe the ones who are the most curious and are investigating everything in their environment by way of their beak are the more intelligent ones. They also apparently remember foods that they have not eaten in a while. When we decided to add milo into their diet most of them would not take it. But three of my geese who are two years old now and had been eating bird seed at one time which contains milo remembered it and ate it without slinging their beaks in disgust and being highly disappointed. 

The More Intelligent Geese of My Flock
White Chinese seem to be smarter than the majority of the Gray African/Chinese geese. If they watch me fooling around with a plant they will try the plant later on assuming that I was eating it and liked it. They also dig a lot. Which I believe they may just be doing for the fun of it or maybe there is some food that they are getting during digging. And as shown in the picture above a white goose is exactly the goose who is checking out a branch with her beak. But it is not only the white geese that check stuff out. Gingko, Cherry, and Juniper are the three gray geese that I regard as the smartest. The order in which they are listed is how I rank their intelligence level. Gingko loves goslings and she is a cautious goose but she loves her food. I am not really sure why I think she is so intelligent but she just seems to be. Cherry I believe to be intelligent because he is one of the foremost geese who is into pecking at things he does not know anything about. I believe Juniper is the goose who finds water sources and learns how to use the drinkers of these water sources. 

Geese Play
I have indicated that I think it is quite possible that when geese peck at stuff or dig holes they are doing it for the fun of it. But another thing I have seen them do is run around in circles flapping their wings and going around the pond. Once it seemed kind of like they were doing it to freak the older geese out. I suppose it is possible that they are doing this because of instincts of the wild goose - maybe to get ready to fly?

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Regardless of how intelligence geese are they can be highly affectionate towards you and are a wonderful bird to have.