# Having trouble identifying these birds...



## Elinor0987

Lately I've been trying to make mental notes of the resources around here that could be useful in a shtf situation and have been trying to pay extra attention to plants and animals. This particular type of bird is very common here this time of the year and there are lots of them everywhere. They are also huge and about the size of a turkey. One of these could easily feed a family and if the meat is cut in pieces and made into soup, it could feed a whole group of people. I'm guessing that it is some type of wild duck or goose but haven't been able to tell exactly what type of bird this is. Does anyone know the name of these birds and has anyone ever eaten them before? Is the taste ok or will it need a lot of seasoning? I'm trying to figure this out beforehand while spices are still available and affordable.


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## swjohnsey

Canada geese, tasty.


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## Elinor0987

swjohnsey said:


> Canada geese, tasty.


Thanks swjohnsey! I have a lot more pictures of these birds. They are easy to catch if you have bread or popcorn with you. They will swarm around you, follow and chase you if they think you have food. In a survival situation it would be easy to lure these birds into a cage and carry them off to your bol.


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## hiwall

I don't really know if I would call them "tasty". Like any meat they can taste great but these require some knowledge on cooking this particular meat. No doubt about the food value though. I have eaten many Canada Geese would certainly eat more if the opportunity presented itself.


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## cowboyhermit

Good old Canada geese, there are several subspecies but that doesn't really matter, we are on a major flyway and literally see millions of them in spring and fall, they are overpopulated but not nearly as bad as snow geese which are destroying the tundra.
I love goose, roasted or in a stew.
One thing I would add, as you have found out they are very easily "tamed", it is illegal to keep them as farm animals or pets but I have seen it done many times. For someone who didn't have any livestock before tshtf they might be an excellent resource, goose eggs are nice


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## goshengirl

Yep, find some goose recipes for your post SHTF recipe book.


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## rawhide2971

I have never eaten them here in the USA but in Germany they eat Goose all the time, not sure if they are the same variety....however they are the bane of golf courses around here and my back yard pond is frequently visited by the flying poop machines....word of warning, don't entice them into your yard or you and your kids will never be able to walk barefoot in your yard again. Their drooping are big enough and frequent enough to cause you to curse the day you ever saw the critters.....IMHO that is


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## Elinor0987

hiwall said:


> I don't really know if I would call them "tasty". Like any meat they can taste great but these require some knowledge on cooking this particular meat. No doubt about the food value though. I have eaten many Canada Geese would certainly eat more if the opportunity presented itself.


It's something that people would have to get used to if they aren't already acclimated to the taste. I don't remember ever eating wild geese but if I'm hungry enough they'll be on the menu and eventually the wild birds will be the only poultry available.



cowboyhermit said:


> One thing I would add, as you have found out they are very easily "tamed", it is illegal to keep them as farm animals or pets but I have seen it done many times. For someone who didn't have any livestock before tshtf they might be an excellent resource, goose eggs are nice


I can't have pets here other than fish. In a wrol situation I'm planning to have a bol where I can keep small animals like the geese and rabbits. Most people would find it easier to just hunt them but I have a problem with that because this is a populated area and the sound of gunfire will draw attention. Also, you have to process and cook the meat soon after you kill them or it will spoil. You might be able to slow that process down by putting them in a waterproof container and lowering it into a cold stream or putting it in cool soil, but eventually you would have to do something with it. If you catch them live and keep them in cages then you won't have to worry about refrigeration as long as you're able to feed them. You would just have to watch out for coyotes, wild dogs, people, etc.,. I'm hoping to catch enough of them soon after shtf so that I don't have to go out for a while to get more.



goshengirl said:


> Yep, find some goose recipes for your post SHTF recipe book.


That is definitely on my to do list! I already have some soup cookbooks and recipes for soups and stews in my other cookbooks. I have canned meats and soups are a great way to stretch out the meat portions. Yesterday I got my latest order of books in the mail and one of them is "Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game". It covers beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry, rabbit, and venison. It has pictures and diagrams and takes you through all of the steps on how to prepare the meat. Another thing to add to my to do list is to find pictures of the internal organs of these animals and tuck it in this book so that I have it with me when I'm reading through the steps. The book doesn't have illustrations of these.



rawhide2971 said:


> word of warning, don't entice them into your yard or you and your kids will never be able to walk barefoot in your yard again. Their drooping are big enough and frequent enough to cause you to curse the day you ever saw the critters.....IMHO that is


So what you're saying is that as an added bonus, they will also produce a lot of fertilizer for the compost heap? That's great!


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## Davarm

If you ever try to catch one, keep in mind that geese bite. Not enough to require medical care(usually) but hard enough to make you think twice about letting them get close enough to bite you a second time.


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## Elinor0987

Davarm said:


> If you ever try to catch one, keep in mind that geese bite. Not enough to require medical care(usually) but hard enough to make you think twice about letting them get close enough to bite you a second time.


Today I got a first hand lesson at how aggressive these birds can be. The bird in this photo kept pecking at my feet and legs. Every time I would step back he would follow me. He didn't start doing this until I ran out of bread. I knew that the birds will huddle around you and snatch food right out of your hands if you let them get too close, but today was the first time I've ever been chased by them.


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## swjohnsey

Ever been goosed?


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## Elinor0987

swjohnsey said:


> Ever been goosed?


Not by an actual goose, but now that you mention it I'll be sure to never turn my back on them again!


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## goshengirl

Elinor0987 said:


> Yesterday I got my latest order of books in the mail and one of them is "Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game". It covers beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry, rabbit, and venison. It has pictures and diagrams and takes you through all of the steps on how to prepare the meat. Another thing to add to my to do list is to find pictures of the internal organs of these animals and tuck it in this book so that I have it with me when I'm reading through the steps. The book doesn't have illustrations of these.


Thanks for the idea! I have that book, too. Your idea to tuck some pictures/diagrams in there would make all the difference in the world. Now I just have to find some.... (I'll let you know if I do)


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## Jason

Fry the goose in a nice frying pan with butter, salt and garlic. Then throw out the goose and eat the pan. I'm not a fan of goose.


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## Davarm

When I was a teenager I worked for an old farmer that kept several big(and mean) geese in his yard, thats where I learned about them. He would laugh at my brother and I when we would come to his door to get our pay. He was a good man to work for though, always paid good for good work.

We learned early on to never turn your back on them!lol



Elinor0987 said:


> Today I got a first hand lesson at how aggressive these birds can be. The bird in this photo kept pecking at my feet and legs. Every time I would step back he would follow me. He didn't start doing this until I ran out of bread. I knew that the birds will huddle around you and snatch food right out of your hands if you let them get too close, but today was the first time I've ever been chased by them.


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## NaeKid

I have geese in my backyard all the time as there is a massive pond that is home to geese and ducks and such just across the back way.

They are mean buggers.

They are also tasty. Very tasty!

*BBQ:* I like to prepare them by tossing them into the BBQ first and cooking them up. Their meat is dark - very very dark meat. 1/4lb of meat (like a burger) makes you feel like you just put 1lb of meat down into your stomach - very dense. Cook it similar to steak - medium-rare. If you cook it to a well-done level, you might as well go straight to the left-overs option. BBQ'd goose is yummy.

*LeftOvers:* After the first meal is done, I love to make a goose-stew in my dutch-oven with fresh onions, carrots, garlic, potatoes, celery stalks (and celery seed is good too), bacon/ham pieces, split-peas ... spices include roasted-red-pepper seeds, caraway seed and if I am feeling a little spicy, I might toss in a dried jalapeno or habanero pepper or two. For liquid in the stew, I like using a can of BowValley Beer (lager), or some homemade red-wine - something cheap with a good alchohol content (5% or 7% upto about 10%) .... use water as required to top-up the pot.


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## Jason

Dw barbeques goose from time to time. That makes it palletable but still not great. I think duck is a lot tastier. Having said that, if it hits the fan, there's a lot of meat on one goose and if you're hungry, anything goes.


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## webeable

You also need to know most hunters take only the breast meat other parts contain little meat as they are birds that fly. Goose is okay to eat always killed one off for thanksgiving at gramma's as grampa wanted it. They are just a winged rat in my book, they love to poop.


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## mojo4

If you do plan to "aquire" a goose crew after SHTF glove and leather jacket up first! You gotta pull out the flight feathers or they will escape your yard and become someone else's dinner. But don't mess with them now because even though they live on golf courses and parks year round they are considered a migratory bird and its serious penalties for messing with them or their nests. Also, one of these buggers stole my daughters food at a local zoo when we were having a picnic. They are thieves!!


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## GroovyMike

goose is a strong flavor similar to liver. The only way we eat it is as jerky with a lot of hot sauce in the recipe.


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## Jaspar

I had one attack me a few weeks ago. I was fishing at our pond and a mama goose apparently had a nest in the fox tails along the bank. Apparently I got a little too close. Yowzer!!


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## MsSage

Please know I am not making fun of you...but ggeesshhh what does this say about the state of the world? These birds have been around for years and years most flocks never really leaving a city they have decided was home. If something so basic is not known good gracious what other life saving info is not known ........
Really I am not criticizing you just the sad state of this country ....


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## Elinor0987

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to Chicago. I saw a bunch of birds there that look just like the birds where I work. I've been wanting to get pictures of them but can never seem to remember to bring the camera. The Canadian Geese in the previous pictures usually arrive here in May but these birds get here in August. I've never seen them around here earlier. The only thing I know about them is that they fly often, the slightest thing will spook them and they take off. They usually flock together and the size can vary from about 50-200 birds or more. They're smaller than the geese but can still feed two people or more if you're making a soup. I'm guessing some type of sea gull?

[URL=http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/Elinor0987/media/027_zpsc620dcfd.jpg.html]

[URL=http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/Elinor0987/media/063_zps77d5532d.jpg.html]

[URL=http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/Elinor0987/media/059_zps5708f3a3.jpg.html]

[URL=http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/Elinor0987/media/053_zpsae780328.jpg.html]

On a side note, we went to Navy Pier and I saw this. It would make a great bug out vehicle if you're planning to sneak out to your bol. It's quiet, doesn't require fuel or batteries, and you can load boxes on them and haul stuff around. It would be better to do it at night with some type of night vision device, but something like this could serve a useful purpose post shtf. I was tempted to hop on it and go for a joyride through the city but I didn't want to end up on the six o'clock news so I left it alone. 

[URL=http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/Elinor0987/media/087_zps99dde58c.jpg.html]


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## hiwall

they are sea gulls.


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## cowboyhermit

Yup, sea gulls, ring-billed looks like. 
Never thought about eating them, kinda like crows:dunno:


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## hiwall

> Never thought about eating them, kinda like crows


I'd have to be very very hungry.


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## bugoutbob

Ring billed gulls as some else mentioned. Common garbage eaters. Far less than tasty.


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## Elinor0987

Thanks for the input! These birds would be far more difficult to catch than the geese. We have other birds here too but I'm looking at the ones where I can get a sizeable quantity within a short amount of time. It would be easier to do that with the birds that flock together in large quantities. I've seen ducks around here too. They have a green band around their neck and are not far from here. One of these days I'll get a picture of them.


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## hiwall

Elinor0987, all ducks and geese are edible. A few ducks are fish eaters and they may not be as tasty. I'm sure you know that any bird or animal can be eaten. Rats are found world over and are eaten in many parts of the world. In the USA there are millions of dogs and cats that are very edible. When you see that Robin eating worms in your yard just remember you can eat the Robin and the worms. Many people turn their noses up at many edible items today but that will change when they haven't eaten anything for a few days.


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## bugoutbob

AMen to that hiwall


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## Elinor0987

hiwall said:


> Elinor0987, all ducks and geese are edible. A few ducks are fish eaters and they may not be as tasty. I'm sure you know that any bird or animal can be eaten. Rats are found world over and are eaten in many parts of the world. In the USA there are millions of dogs and cats that are very edible. When you see that Robin eating worms in your yard just remember you can eat the Robin and the worms. Many people turn their noses up at many edible items today but that will change when they haven't eaten anything for a few days.


This is a great place to go to for advice on preparing for inevitable day when the option to run to the grocery store for food will no longer be there. The only food we will have then is whatever we can get ahead of time and what we can hunt, forage, trap, etc.,. A while back I read an article online about wild fowl and in it was a part about the taste of the meat and how much different it is from what we get at the stores. It was suggested that by feeding the birds grains, bread, popcorn, etc., for a few weeks before processing the meat that it would make the taste milder and more palatable. One of the reasons why I'm asking about the birds is to try to gage how much seasoning will be needed and plan accordingly. From the responses here and the general direction that our economy is going, I'll be acquiring as much as I possibly can over the next few months. It's going to be a huge adjustment for everyone when that day comes.


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## MetalPrepper

Canada Geese are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918 . This Act makes it illegal to harm or injure a goose and damage or move its eggs and nest, without a Federal permit. Not complying with the Federal Act can result in fines ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 and this also applies to an untrained dog’s actions.......BUT after SHTF.....who cares? Be careful they can be mean.


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