Lesser Canada Goose - Cornwall, UK (1 Viewer)

[Dean Nicholson]

Not one to get too excited about in terms of natural vagrancy but Would appreciate any thoughts on this Lesser type Canada Goose at Drift Reservoir on Dec 12th.
Apparently (although i never realised at the time) it has been present for a few months and is supposedly just a small female Canada Goose B.c canadensis ?...Apparently several other birders have independently flagged it up (as a Cackler) and also been told the same thing....

Well it isn't a Cackling Goose but surely it's one of the smaller Canada Geese isn't it, parvipes perhaps?

In direct comparison it differed from the Canada's by:
* being slightly smaller (but still obviously so) with a thinner neck and slightly boxy head (steeper forehead).
* darker breast.
* had a thinner, more backward pointing face patch (which appeared slightly dusky rather than white in certain light).

If this was a just a small female Canada Goose then why aren't i seeing anything remotely like this in any of my local feral Canada flocks?!

Cheers...

 

[alcedo.atthis]

In November 1992 I found the neck collared Canada Goose 6TU2 up at the Kinord area. Interestingly enough, it was identified by others as Parvipes. I wrote to the ringers to confirm this. Unfortunately, they were unable to do this due to indentification overlap. I notified the relevant people. I note from the BOURC's 39th Report of 2010, they too also query the subs' identification. So if you cannot categorically identify this sub-species, I would not worry about it.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2010.01081.x/pdf

Regards

Malky

 

[Dean Nicholson]

Thanks Malky,

They aren't easy, and Identification of such types will always involve a certain amount of (educated) guesswork and subjectivity.I'm not even 100% sure if parvipes is even recognized now? but after a quick look at Reeber it doesn't look a million miles away.....

I'd actually be quite happy with folk agreeing that it doesn't look like 'just a small female Canada Goose' to be honest! :t: