They are up there. Sometimes you hear them but the fog or clouds obscure their location. Or they can be beyond the next ridge.  They are the vocal cackling geese, the size of large ducks. Though cacklers have the same plumage pattern as the geese on local golf courses and refuges (Canada geese), they are about one-third as big. I have seen groups of a couple dozen, or wave after wave of flying v-formations that altogether contain thousands. In flight the cacklers have faster wing beats than the larger geese we see. By the way, their call in flight is not a cackle. It is much more of soprano yelp. Usually in flocks, the calls are often a chorus, rarely a single bird or single call. They are here for their winter vacation. Almost all of the cacklers’ nesting range is above the 60th parallel North in the Western Hemisphere.  The southern portion of their range: Aleutian Islands. So thousands come down for our mild winters here at the 45th parallel, and points south. The major part of the population doesn’t come to the Pacific Slope but heads to the southern Great Plains and the Gulf Coast of Texas and northeast Mexico. Oregon Fish & Wildlife estimates there are about 150,000 cacklers in the Willamette Valley most winters.  Besides the resident, introduced Canada geese, our area also attracts thousands of migratory Canada geese, most of the “dusky” variety.  Those are smaller than most of our resident geese (who can loaf and never migrate) but considerably larger than the cacklers. There are legal hunting seasons for cackling geese in Alaska, Canada and Oregon. The cackler is herbivorous, focusing its seasonal diet on what’s required. For breeding and rearing young they need more protein — grasses and other protein-rich plants. In fall and winter, calories become more crucial — berries, seeds, grain, even some tubers. Just before northward migration the geese can start to prefer more protein again. Where to look? Baskett Slough and Ankeny wildlife refuges often have fields full. I see these birds often at Gateway and Greer Parks in Salem. They will also settle onto larger lawn areas around government buildings or on golf courses. When cacklers nest their young are in the egg about 26 days. As soon as they are born these goslings can run, swim, dive and feed themselves. They hang around the nest but are never helpless. See the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s field guide to cackling geese here. For information about upcoming Salem Audubon programs and activities, see www.salemaudubon.org, or Salem Audubon’s Facebook page. Harry Fuller is an Oregon birder and natural history author of “Freeway Birding” and the newly-published “Birding Harney County.” He is a member of the Salem Audubon Society. Contact him at [email protected] or atowhee.blog. His “Some Fascinating Things About Birds” column appears regularly in Salem Reporter. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post COLUMN: Geese making a “v-line” for Willamette Valley appeared first on Salem Reporter.