So, why are the geese doing this? Likely, says Ross, it’s to protect their sensitive beaks from being damaged with a direct hit — an injury which could easily be life-threatening.
This behavior has been observed in other species by other researchers in the past, but the video above may offer even more insight into just how clever this group of geese is.
“A few individuals seem to be actually reacting to individual hailstones,” Ross told Live Science. “So not only are they looking up into the sky to reduce their profile, but perhaps when a hailstone was imminently going to hit them in the face, they dodge[d] it really quickly.”
While there’s still more to be studied about this behavior, there seems to be one obvious takeaway — it pays to look up.