whoopers & geese (1 Viewer)

[George Hogg]

Couple of musings...

Can pairs of Whooper Swans reliably be sexed by size..i.e. males larger?

Also haven't heard reports of darvic style neck rings on U.K. wintering geese recently.
Has this form of marking fallen from favour?

Does anyone agree with me it is a great indignity for a wild goose be marked in such a way and shows a lack of respect on our part?

 

[fugl]

Does anyone agree with me it is a great indignity for a wild goose be marked in such a way and shows a lack of respect on our part?

No, I don't. IMO, “respect” & “dignity” are features of the human psyche & to attribute them to non-humans is the worse kind of anthropomorphization. The rings can be esthetically objectionable--there’s no doubt about that--but that’s a matter of our sensibilities, not the birds’. There's also, of course, the possibility that the rings might cause some physical discomfort, but I don’t know what if any evidence there is for that.

 

[Tideliner]

It is possible with mature birds in company , but harder with single birds. If you watch geese\swans carefuly you will see one bird will strut about , alert , neck up a lot of the time and act in an agressive manner if another bird come up to the one he is with. That is most likely a male . The female is more likely to spend most of its time feeding though she may become involved , backing up her mate in agressive encounters with other birds.