• BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

    Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Greylag - Canada goose hybrids
Yesterday, I observed 5 of these oddly coloured geese in a mixed flock of Greylag and Canada geese by Lake Roxen, stergtland, Sweden. They were considerably smaller than Canada goose but similar, (or maybe a bit smaller than the Greylag). They mixed with both species but stayed more or less together as a group. I don't recall ever seing this kind of goose before (birder since 1973) so I'm very curious to learn what they are.

A 1600x1000 pixel crop including a Greylag goose can be seen if you follow this link: http://www.jensbirch.eu/jensbirch/box/Faglar/3_strange%20geese_plus_greylag_100percent_PB156766.JPG
Habitat
open wetland, large lake
Location
Nybro, Lake Roxen, stergtland, Sweden
Date taken
November 15, 2008
Scientific name
Unknown but should anyone know the ID - I'd love to know!
Equipment used
Olympus E-3 + Zuiko Digital 90-250/2.8
Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) maybe? Sometimes called Lesser or Small Canada Goose. They're native to north america but some seem to have reached europe as well.
 
Thanks Jack,

I didn't know about the Cackling goose. I posted a question in the Bird ID forum section and got the suggestion that these are Canada+Greylag hybrids. The colours are pretty much differing from Cackling goose as well as Canada so I guess a hybrid with any of them is the most likely anyway.

Cheers, Jens.
 
You could be right there Jens! I tried to id from drawings in a birdguide, which is not always easy .... cheers mate
 
Yes i would say the ids are spot on canalags or canada X Greylag geese are very common.
 

Media information

Category
Albinos and other odd birds
Added by
jebir
Date added
View count
167
Comment count
5

Share this media

Top