Snow or Ross's Goose? California, United States (1 Viewer)

[littletiff99]

I saw these geese back in December of 2012....I know...really old pictures. These were taken at the Salton Sea in Southern California. I was wondering if the dark goose with a white head is a dark morph Snow or Ross's Goose. I'm leaning more towards Ross's because of the lighter breast but am unsure.

 

[rkj]

I would say this is likely a Ross's Goose, though it might be hybrid. On Snow Goose the line where the feathers meet the bill bends out toward the bill; on Ross's, and this bird, it is straight. The bill and body size do seem rather large for a pure Ross's, however. The dark morph Snow Goose varies a good deal in color; I would assume the same is true for dark Ross's, though I do not really know.

 

[KC Foggin]

I spent close to an hour comparing the two on Google images and I feel as though rkj is correct.