Lofty perch: Some Canada geese choose to nest with goslings atop Bend buildings
And some need rescue, to reach the water and not have risky fall
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- If you're walking in downtown Bend in the next couple of months, you may see an unfamiliar sight atop a building.
Canada geese, due to a loss of habitat and fear of predators, have been known to nest on top of buildings around the area, and early spring into summer is the birds' breeding season.
“It’ not unusual for them to be visible in downtown Bend," Elise Wolf, the director at Native Bird Care in Sisters, said Friday. "You could see chirping babies wanting to get off the roof line.”
Wolf has been involved in two or three geese rescues a year since Native Bird Care started 10 years ago.
The reason for rescues? It can take goslings up to 10 weeks to be able to fly, meaning some baby birds may fall off the building, with no way of saving themselves from hitting the sidewalk below.
Wolf says geese will typically lay their eggs near water, but if geese are having success on top of buildings, even if some goslings die, they will continue using those areas for nesting.
“Birds will do something repeatedly, if they find success at it," Wolf said. "They are having a successful nest of goslings that somehow make it off the building and can get down to the river.”
Wolf has had to rescues goslings from the top of buildings before, like the Franklin Building in downtown Bend. She will capture the mother and its goslings and bring them down to the river, with the male goose hopefully following behind.
St. Charles Bend also has had some geese who nest on their roof, as one of the tallest buildings in the area, and has similar issues of risk for the youngsters.
The hospital has had the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife dealing with some nests near the Family Birthing Center and is "also looking into what we can do about the roof nests," said Lisa Goodman, St. Charles' public information and government affairs officer.
Wolf still does rescues. If your building has a goose nest on top of it you can reach out to her at lovenativebirds@gmail.com.
