{
2008
03
21
}
Will you follow Father Goose?
What happens when a flock of migrating Canadian Geese loses its way? Contrary to the cartoon's depiction, the employment of GPS is not a viable solution! 
Their ability to learn with the aid of humans, however, presents a glimmer of hope – at least as suggested by the fascinating story of William Lishman and his flight with the geese. But to what extent do Lishman’s findings hold true?
This video, together with written accounts, examines the experiments of William Lishman, which have captured the attention and imagination of both the scientific community and the world at large. In the late 1980s, Lishman attempted to use an ultralight aircraft to lead the geese in flight. This worked, leading them from Ontario, Canada to Virginia, US. Further cause for celebration was the fact that these geese were able to take the same return migration route on their own the subsequent year. This led them to the conclusion that human beings could help parentless goslings to learn migration routes. Thus lay the rationale for the formation of "Operation Migration", a non-profit organization set up by Lishman and Joe Duff, which attempts to teach lost endangered birds return migration routes.
Admittedly, my initial interest in this topic was prompted by romanticized notions of geese migration. These were perhaps gleaned from the popular movie "Fly Away Home", together with the prevailing image of geese flying in a V-shaped formation against the backdrop of a beautiful sky. Having obtained more knowledge on animal behaviour through the module however, my anthropomorphic tendencies have duly (hopefully!) given way for a more informed and analytical approach to this topic.
On one hand, this phenomenon affirms certain lessons I have learnt from the module. Firstly, Lishman’s experiments were largely based on Konrad Lorenz’s imprinting theory. Lishman tried to be the “father goose” by being the first object the goslings were visually stimulated by, and this proved successful when the goslings began to follow him around.
Within the subject of learning, Lishman’s experiment also attested to the spatial learning capabilities of the geese. Functioning on the assumption that without their parents, the goslings would have no directional awareness, Lishman’s experiment seems to prove that by acting as their parent and familiarizing them with the route, they were able to remember it.
However, more recent studies about migratory behavior of birds appear to contradict Lishman’s findings. Even though it is agreed that navigation requires knowledge of position and time, it has been proven that despite traveling over unfamiliar areas and without parental guidance, they are still able to return to their nesting sites. This is attributed to evolutionary behavior. From contextual knowledge, this seems highly possible; perhaps over time, the young goslings could have developed an ability to adapt to the absence of parental guidance and the unfamiliarity of their surroundings!
This topic is hence extremely interesting to me because it suggests how the behaviour of Canadian goslings could have evolved over time. On one hand, I would not discount Lishman’s experiments which prove learnt behaviour. However, acknowledging recent studies which consider another perspective serves to broaden the scope of scientific enquiry. Would Canadian geese still follow Father Goose? We wait in anticipation as the mysteries of bird migration continue to unfold!
References“The Mystery of Migration”. From BBC Science and Nature. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/birds/weeklyfeature/migration/
"Operation Migration". Operation Migration. 1994-2005. http://www.operationmigration.org/index.html
"Flight with Birds". William Lishman. http://www.williamlishman.com/flight_with_birds.htm
"Father Goose". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uurn-Nrljbw
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