If you saw a goose close up, you may have noticed what appears to be a row of teeth all around their beak and tongue. The thought of that can be terrifying, especially if they start to chase you. But do Geese have teeth?
Geese do not have teeth as they are birds. Instead, they have serrated edges that run around the internal edge of their beak and tongue. These tooth-like mouth structures are cartilage known as tomia and spiny papillae. Geese use these structures to grip and tear food when eating.
If you want to know more about geese tomia, then keep reading, this guide will cover all the questions you may have.
Do Geese have teeth on their tongue?
The mouth structure you see in a goose’s mouth is not teeth. Although at first glance it may look like geese have rows of teeth on their beak and tongue. On closer inspection you’d see that these are not individual teeth, in fact, they are two different parts of the goose’s mouth.
The serrated cartilage edge along the goose’s beak is known as tomia in the bird world. The sharper-looking structures on the goose’s tongue are not tomia but spiny papillae.
As geese are birds they cannot have teeth and they have beaks instead. The reason that tomia or spiny papillae are not classed as teeth is that they do not have the anatomical structures of teeth. This includes enamel, pulp, dentin, nerves, and blood flow.
Tomium are actually a part of the geese beak, rather than a separate structure that grows on them.
Why do birds need Tomium?
A bird’s beak is a really important part of its anatomy. The beak is used for lots of different purposes including:
- Eating
- Preening
- Finding food
- Feeding young
- Builing nests
- Defense
- Mating Rituals
Tomium are serrated edges that run along the beak structure to make it easier for geese to carry out these tasks. This small detail in the beak can help geese to live longer by carrying out simple tasks better.
Geese have feeding behaviors such as grazing, pecking, fishing, and filter-feeding. The tomia help them to do this by providing a grip and a cutting edge for geese to handle food better. So although they are not teeth, they perform similar tasks to the teeth that other animals have.
Geese are waterfowl from the Anatidae family, which means they will often be eating in wet conditions. This can make the food they eat slippery and harder to handle. Tomia helps the geese to hold on to and maneuver food in these conditions. This is best seen when geese are pulling up plants, grasses, snails, or shellfish.
Tomia can also be used to crush up their food to make it easier to swallow. Geese don’t have the ability to chew their food, so they need to perform a crushing motion to condense any food they have in their mouth. The tomia help geese to carry out this crushing action. `
Geese have a diet of primarily plants and vegetation. They may also occasionally eat fish and insects. These foods are a little most feisty than pulling up plants. The tomia can help them to hold onto food that squirms or has slippery textures.
Do Geese bite with their Tomia?
Geese are quite aggressive birds and will use their tomia as a defense mechanism including biting. As a human, the goose will use their beak to snap at you when they feel threatened.
If they catch your skin the geese tomia will cause damage such as bruising and cuts. It will mainly be superficial and be managed without medical assistance, but it will hurt. Geese won’t snap on at humans, but generally, any animal species that threatens the goose or its chicks.
Biting is also a big part of the mating ritual between geese. Canada geese in particular are a very aggressive species. Their mating rituals include lots of fighting and a lot of this display will involve biting the other males. Whoever wins gets to mate with the female. So biting is quite an important skill for a male goose.
Although tomia can cause damage, they are not as durable or strong as the tooth structure that mammals have.
Are Geese Teeth (tomia) sharp?
Different bird species will have different uses for their tomia. As geese mainly use them to grip food and break down food, the tomia are fairly blunt but sharp enough to cut.
It’s a bit like human teeth, fairly flat, but good for breaking food down into smaller bits.
The spiny papilla on the goose’s tongue is much sharper than the tomia, but they are also a lot softer. These are the same spikes you’ll see on a cat’s tongue.
Both the tomia and spiny papillae work together to help the geese maneuver food whilst eating.
The cartilage the tomia are made from is very strong. So although the tomia are not very sharp, when combined with the force of a strong beak it can cause a lot of damage to soft tissue.
The whole point of geese tomia is to help them to collect and break up plant material or soft flesh that they are eating.
Is all goose Tomia the same?
The general structure of a gooses’ mouth is the same across the anatidae family. Yet the color and shaping of a goose tomia can be used to help identify a certain species of goose.
For example, the snow goose has an orange/pink beak but a distinctive black-colored tomium. This dark tomium helps to set them apart from the almost identical Ross’ goose.
Do baby geese have teeth (tomia)?
Baby geese (goslings) are born with fully formed tomia in their beaks. As they grow larger into adult geese, the tomia continue to grow alongside the beak.
The reason baby goslings have tomia is that the structure is already part of the gooses’ beak. This is unlike mammal teeth that emerge as the baby grows.
Once hatched baby goslings will only stay in the nest for around 1-2 days before the mother goose takes them out foraging. The tomia will help the goslings to forage for their own food such as vegetation.
Final thoughts
You can put your fears of a goose with a beakful of teeth to rest.
Although geese may not have a full set of pearly whites, they do have tomia which is the bird version of teeth. Yet rest assured these are used for breaking down food rather than mauling people or animals.
This feature is present even in baby geese and can even help to identify the species you’ve seen.
Thankfully it’s a harmless feature, but I’d still recommend you run from a squawking goose protecting her chicks, or you’re sure to get a nip from those tomia.