Night vision?

[nao57]

I was curious to ask you guys what you thought about how well ducks and geese see in the dark? Or not?

I've noticed that if I am late feeding them at night, they seem to know I'm coming pretty quickly. Its made me wonder how well they can see in the dark.

What do you think about that? (I don't have geese, but I was curious about them on this. With chickens it might be hard to tell because they seem kind of dumb sometimes.)

Also, the way my chicken chicks are spilling their food all the time, I can't tell if they are eating are not. With ducks its obvious, but with the chicks (chickens) they seem to just tip it over and play with it. And they didn't eat as much as the ducklings did from the beginning anyway. So how do you tell if they are hungry or not?

 

[Ratchnick]

I don't think they can see well at night but they hear pretty well.

 

[Gerty0630]

My ducks are blind as can be at night. That’s where the term sitting duck comes from. They can still hear of course. So if mine have ever been out after dark I have to walk behind them and clap my hands for them to know I’m there!

 

[DuckyDonna]

Interesting, I didn't know that!

 

[Isaac 0]

I've gone in the coop late when it's dark and walked right up to a duck and she didn't even flinch. To answer your question, I don't think they can see very well or at all in the dark.

 

[JaeG]

The resident feral geese here seem to wander about at night and chatter away even when it's dark. Apparently Canada geese can see and even fly in the dark and have night vision 12 times better than our own. But it sounds like ducks can't see well at night.

 

[nao57]

That's odd. I wouldn't have expected such a big difference between them. But that might explain why geese are so prolific in the wild. Such as wild Geese in the wild, etc.

 

[Isaac 0]

My domestic geese cannot see well at night at all.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We heard a flock of Canada geese flying above the river at 10:00 pm. Can't remember if it was a full moon but it was amazing to hear that time of night.

 

[Isaac 0]

Although we think of birds as roosting during the night, Canada geese do fly at night, especially during the migration. The geese have excellent memories and vision, allowing them to spot and remember landmarks on the ground and in the sky.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/11/05/morris-nighttime-geese-flights/


Found this-

That is weird my geese can't see at all, but wild ones can.