Cold Feet #12280

The Story

In the strong morning sunlight of a cold day dawning, a small group of Canadian geese stands with one leg at a cold-water dam overflow. These birds do the one-legged stand to conserve body heat…there are no feathers on their legs.  Geese can tolerate cold temperatures very well, but they do have some coping behaviors to get through the cold. Geese, like many other birds, can lock a leg joint to remain standing while they sleep. When they sleep standing, they most often fold their neck under a wing and can remain on one leg. However, geese and ducks generally prefer to sleep floating on the water as protection from their natural predators such as coyotes.

Location: near Louisville, Kentucky. Picture and story © Andrew Dierks