White fronted goose query in Ardnamurchan, Scottish Highlands 13-11-21 (1 Viewer)

[Monte Bleasdale]

Hello folks,

I took the attached photo last Saturday at Camas Na Geall on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. The goose in the center clearly has a white front, it was the only one like that in a group of 49. The puzzle is I can make out that it has a pale eye ring, however according to all my bird books white fronted geese don`t have this. However a lesser white fronted does have an eye ring though again all my books say lessers have a yellow eye ring where this one is clearly pale. Also lessers are supposed to be smaller, and the bird in question did not look any smaller than the rest. Also lesser white fronts are are an extremely rare migrant!

Does anyone think the bird is:

a). A hybrid between a whitefront and a lesser whitefront?
b). A hybrid between a Greylag and a lesser?
c). A hybrid between a Grelag and (a) above?
d) 4. A genuine lesser (very rare visitor?)

Or anything else?

I look forward to anyone`s expert opinion!

Kind regards,

Monte

 

[njlarsen]

The extent of the white around the bill fits greater whitefront and not lesser, same with shape of bill. Therefore, any thoughts would start with that as one parent (or both?).
Niels

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

White rings around the bill do occur as a rare colour pattern in other species. This bird is certainly one of the following
An oddly coloured Greylag
A Greylag with some domestic ancestry
Possibly a Greylag hybrid or backcross, but apart from the small amount of white on the head, nothing about size or shape seems to support this.

 

[aeshna5]

Agree it's a Greylag with possibly some domestic input. I don't see any whitefront (either species) here at all despite the white blaze.

 

[stevethehydra]

Yes, this is one of the first 2 options here. White on the face, sometimes resembling White-fronted Goose, is fairly common in domestic/feral geese. The huge thick bill on this bird is clearly all Greylag (if anything, it looks even thicker than the others, which itself could be a marker of domestic ancestry). Greylags are bulkier and thicker-billed than any other goose and domestic breeds pretty much all exaggerate that.

White rings around the bill do occur as a rare colour pattern in other species. This bird is certainly one of the following
An oddly coloured Greylag
A Greylag with some domestic ancestry
Possibly a Greylag hybrid or backcross, but apart from the small amount of white on the head, nothing about size or shape seems to support this.

 

[Butty]

All look like greylags to me.

 

[Monte Bleasdale]

All look like greylags to me.

Thank you all for your informative replies, must admit I wasn`t aware of a greater whitefront as that species isn`t in my book, so at least I can now rule out out hybridisation with a lesser whitefront!

Monte

 

[aeshna5]

Thank you all for your informative replies, must admit I wasn`t aware of a greater whitefront as that species isn`t in my book, so at least I can now rule out out hybridisation with a lesser whitefront!

Monte

The Greater whitefront is probably in your book as White-fronted Goose. The greater part isn't used much.

 

[Monte Bleasdale]

The Greater whitefront is probably in your book as White-fronted Goose. The greater part isn't used much.

The Greater whitefront is probably in your book as White-fronted Goose. The greater part isn't used much.

OK thanks again, that explains why it`s not in my book!