Emily Chan
Bill Lishman, often referred to as “Father Goose,” was the first person to teach Canadian geese to fly with him.
He was known for leading flocks of geese with ultralight aircraft, a feat that has helped reintroduce endangered species raised in captivity to their natural migration routes.
Lishman also forever changed our understanding of bird migration and continues to influence conservation efforts today.
His innovative approach even inspired the popular 1996 film Fly Away Home, which was nominated for an Oscar.
The idea of training birds to fly alongside him came to him in the mid-1980s. He had been flying a homemade aircraft when a flock of ducks briefly joined him.
“He came home from that flight just raging. He said nothing before that moment in his life was as meaningful as that moment when he could see a bird in flight, each feather passing over itself when the bird was flapping,” said Lishman’s daughter, Carmen. “The experience was so magical for him, he had to repeat it.”
Lishman knew that goslings imprinted on the first thing they saw when they hatched and believed it to be their parent. So, he hatched goslings on his property so they would imprint on him, his family, and his aircraft.
According to Carmen, they would show the goslings their faces and play the sound of the aircraft’s engine through a tape recorder. When they ran through the forest near their home, the goslings would chase after them.
In 1988, Lishman made his first successful flight with 12 Canadian geese in a V-formation. Then, in 1993, he guided 18 geese from Scugog, Canada, to Virginia.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
