# how fast can a goose fly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123 "2004-03-24T14:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123/1 "2004-03-24T14:03:23Z")
How fast can a goose fly? I’m referring to the type of goose I call a “canadian honker” but I don’t know the proper name of it. I was driving 80 down the highway the other day and 3 geese were basically flying in the same direction I was driving. Now, I passed them, of course (they weren’t doing 80) but I had them in my sights for a while as I caught up to them so it didn’t seem like they were just doing a mere 30 mph or anything. Of course, that’s pretty hard to judge, so that’s why I’m asking. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123/2 "2004-03-24T14:18:09Z")
40-50 mph in most flight and migration. Top Speed: approximately 60 MPH. Your goose speed and mileage may vary. Remember to change the oil every 3-5 thousand miles. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123/3 "2004-03-24T14:19:48Z")
Oh…and they’re “Canada Geese”. Yes…_Canada_ Geese. _Canada_ ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123/4 "2004-03-24T14:31:41Z")
You know, I would have guessed they were going about 50 but that sounded absurd. They were doing it without much effort, too. But, they were flying **south** too. I was thinking they got to Pennsylvania and one of them realized he forgot his wallet. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123/5 "2004-03-24T14:34:25Z")
laden or unladen? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123/6 "2004-03-24T14:43:59Z")
Large birds are often seen flying at these speeds with no sign of straining. Over long migrations, the average speed may drop, but 40-50 has been tracked by radar gun and by observations points such as lighthouses and watch towers along coasts. It’s a fairly reasonable speed. Smaller birds fly slower…maybe 20-25 mph. A common observation besides just the speed of a large migratory bird like Canada Geese is that the seem to do it with ease. Heck, cruising out on fishing trips in the Atlantic at 30 MPH finds us with about 6-8 gulls cruising behing us as we cut bait. They are keeping up with a fair amount of ease, but some effort. And they hang in for 20 miles or more. And these are not large migratory birds, and they have some mph in reserve. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-can-a-goose-fly/236123/7 "2004-03-24T17:06:39Z")
Also keep in mind that birds may be taking advantage of prevailing winds. So while their air speed is 50-60 MPH their ground speed can be quite a bit more. I don’t know if there are fast enough winds fairly close to the ground, but higher up I imagine it can be quite a factor.