RE: Finally a Cackling Goose?

["J. Harry Krueger" <hkrueger at cableone dot net>]

Tim,

Here are some thoughts on your picture of the two "white-cheeked" geese.
First of all by bill and head shape of Branta canadensis moffitti, or as you
rightly refer to it by its sometimes common name, "Great Basin" Canada Goose
or "Moffitt's Canada Goose.  Birds in flight are notoriously difficult to
identify, but in this case we can see size (as compared with B. c. moffitti)
to be what I would term closer to mid-size.  Size definitely rules out B. h.
minima (as does coloration).  Size overlap can be inclusive of B. c.
parvipes ("Lesser" Canada Goose), B. h. hutchinsii ("Richardson's" Cackling
Goose), and B. h. taverneri ("Taverner's' Cackling Goose).  Color is within
possible limits of parvipes and possibly taverneri, although the breast does
not fall into what I have seen or experienced in hutchinsii.  I don't see
any of the gray tones on the upper front breast that are common with this
subspecies (although it is obviously possible this is cased by the photo and
available light and angle of picture). The more rounded head (compare to the
larger bird) and the apparent angle of bill to head (again difficult to see
well in a flying bird picture because of outstretched neck to head and bill
angle) are consistant with parvipes. I believe that hutchinsii's bill would
be more "stubby" looking, with a slight vertical rise from bill to forehead
and more squared, flat-topped head shape.  

Bottom-line?  I believe most, if not all, the characteristics of the smaller
bird to be most consistant with B. c. parvipes or the "Lesser" Canada Goose.
Tim, if you're looking for a "first" on this species, I would keep looking
for a more reliably identifiable bird.

Harry Krueger
Boise, ID
Secretary, Idaho Bird Records Committee 



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-birdtalk@utahbirds.org [mailto:owner-birdtalk@utahbirds.org] On
Behalf Of Tim Avery
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 12:46 PM
To: birdtalk@utahbirds.org
Subject: Finally a Cackling Goose?

I headed down to Decker Lake this morning to see if anything interesting had
moved in during the last week.  I scanned all the gees and nothing special. 
hten a flock of geese flew in from the west and I managed to get a picture
of two geese coming in side by side.  This bird definately has the
"Richardson's"
type bill, and is much smaller to the Great Basin subspecies next to it,
here is a link to the image at surfbirds (scroll down till you see the
images):

http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery20

Any ideas?  Is this a Cackling Goose, or is the search still on?

Good Birding

Tim

Salt Lake City, UT or Beloit, WI
http://www.timaverybirding.com

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