It could be that they are resting after a long flight, and eating whatever vegitation they can find until moving on to greener pastures.

Canada geese mainly feed on land, not in the water, and take to the water essentially to be safer from predators. I would imagine that predators are also not so comfortable or fast on the ice, giving the birds plenty of time to make a getaway. So the geese could be choosing a frozen wetland over a thawed one based on a nearby food source?

Every once in a while I see a question that peaks my sense of curiosity. I found this question exceptionally interesting because as a kid I grew up on a farm in N.E. Ohio where we had a large flock of about 60 domestic geese and I had a firsthand knowledge of the feeding & nesting habits of geese. I was then curios to see how that compared to the wild Canadian Geese?

Every spring and fall we see flocks of wild geese in their familiar V shaped flight formations as they migrate north and south. From that we are all led to believe that all Canadian Geese are migratory birds wintering on the southern Gulf coast and summering on their breeding grounds in Canada, but according to the National Audubon Society and my local Ornithologist that is not the case today.

Due to extreme hunting pressures by 1940 wild Canadian Geese were on the endangered list and nearing extinction. It was actually hunting groups such as the NRA and Ducks Unlimited and local conservation clubs that promoted setting strict hunting limits and introducing a project to breed geese in captivity then release them into the wild to help maintain the species.

The breeding & release programs worked very well as far as improving the overall population of Canadian Geese but there were a couple unforeseen problems. While the few wild Canadian Geese continued to migrate from Canada to the Gulf Coast and due to the strict hunting limits, they tended to come back very well but most of the geese that had been farm raised were released along the flyway rather than in the summer breeding grounds or the southern wintering grounds. As a consequence there was very little social interaction between the wild geese and those that had been introduced into the wild. This meant that the geese that had been introduced had no navigators to lead them on the migration so they tended to stay year around in or near the point were they were released. In addition, the farm raised geese did not share the natural fear of man that is prevalent in the true wild geese. So much so in fact, that in many areas geese are now a nuisance on golf courses, city parks and even shopping mall parking areas.

Even though geese are aquatic birds, by nature, geese are vegetarians preferring to graze on tender young grasses in open fields or occasionally on aquatic vegetation found in wetland shallows.

They prefer to nest on tiny islands covered with rushes, cattails or other low cover where they have an open view of their surroundings over open water, which helps protect them from predators.

Due to their large body size geese and ducks cannot just jump up and fly like other birds but rather they must get a running start to get up their airspeed in the same manner as an airplane running down a runway. That is very difficult for them on open fields that are covered by tall grass, therefore both ducks and geese prefer to feed on fields adjacent to rivers, ponds or small lakes where they can easily walk to the feeding area, but get back to the water where they have an unrestricted flight path for takeoff. This also accounts for why they like to feed on a golf course, park or the grassy islands in your local shopping center parking lot because the grass is low enough or the parking lot pavement is open enough that it does not hinder their takeoff.

You may have also wondered how they can sit on open water in mid winter without freezing. The answer here is very simple although generally overlooked by most people. Sitting in the water is warmer. When the water is iced over the surface temperature of the ice will be nearly equal to the air temp, which is sub freezing and may even be sub zero, but when they find patches of open water on larger lakes or moving river streams they sit in the water because the water is warmer. Keep in mind that to remain liquid the water must be 32degf or warmer.