Seen on Nov. 12, 2016 on a small pond near a shopping center in northern Delaware. The size is clearly smaller than most of the Canada geese in the pond, including the one in the background, and not a lot larger than the Mallard. The necks seem relatively short and thick and the forehead relatively steep. I am not sure the bills are stubby enough gut I an leaning toward Cackling Geese.
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Cackling or Canada Goose in Delaware, USA (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter GTeig
- Start date
lou salomon
the birdonist
these are canada geese (parvipes?). head structure is not right for cackling, especially bill is too long, proportionally. see here: http://www.sibleyguides.com/2007/07/identification-of-cackling-and-canada-goose/
Not that easy, I'm afraid--
http://www.sibleyguides.com/2007/07/identification-of-cackling-and-canada-goose/
RJP
Well-known member
I agree this separation can be a bit more tricky than most people give it credit for. I have a 4-5 acre pond 30 feet behind my office, and I keep a spotting scope trained on it all fall. It draws a lot of geese, and I go through them every morning, to pick out Cacklings. Sibley's bit about the sub-flocks is important - I have never seen Cacklings randomly mixed in with Canadas - they always in my experience form a little sub-flock that sticks together.
At any rate, I would call the birds in this thread Canadas.
At any rate, I would call the birds in this thread Canadas.
gerdwichers8
Well-known member
http://www.sibleyguides.com/2010/09/bill-size-not-shape-distinguishes-cackling-and-canada-goose/
Even though Sibley may well have a point in stating that the bill should be looked upon in context with the head with it, I don't conceive an identical billshape.
A stronger downsloping upper mandible and a shorter rather than shallowly longer extending inclination towards the nail is looked upon in Cacklers.
So yes, bill shape is helpful.
Even though Sibley may well have a point in stating that the bill should be looked upon in context with the head with it, I don't conceive an identical billshape.
A stronger downsloping upper mandible and a shorter rather than shallowly longer extending inclination towards the nail is looked upon in Cacklers.
So yes, bill shape is helpful.
Birdbrain22
Well-known member
These birds are Canada geese. Agree with Lou's comments. When we get a Cackling over on the East coast... there is usually only 1 or 2 mixed in with a large flock of Canadas.
Sorry, sorry, sorry, in my slapdash fashion I hadn't noticed that a link to the Sibley article had already been posted. That being said, here's (some of) what Sibley has to say on the field separation of the 2 subspecies--
"B. h. taverneri – Taverner’s (Alaska) Cackling Goose – may intergrade with parvipes in interior AK. Merged by Palmer with parvipes but has unique mtDNA. Similar to leucopareia but slightly larger and lighter in color, with rounder head. Similar to parvipes but breast slightly darker."
And there's more in the same vein later in the article. . ..
So, I stick to my original contention that in the present case small Canada (as opposed to large Cackler) is by no means a slam dunk.
"B. h. taverneri – Taverner’s (Alaska) Cackling Goose – may intergrade with parvipes in interior AK. Merged by Palmer with parvipes but has unique mtDNA. Similar to leucopareia but slightly larger and lighter in color, with rounder head. Similar to parvipes but breast slightly darker."
And there's more in the same vein later in the article. . ..
So, I stick to my original contention that in the present case small Canada (as opposed to large Cackler) is by no means a slam dunk.
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