Can you name that goose?

[BEHR655]

All,

Last week at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, NJ I saw and photographed this goose. I could not find any thing in my book or on-line that resembled it. I sent the photos to the Audubon Society to identify it. They came back with "it's probably a Snow Goose, blue phase". After looking at many photos of blue phase Snow Goose I've come to believe they are wrong. The Snow Goose, blue phase has an all white head and a grey body. I believe that this goose is a Greater White Fronted Goose in some sort of moulting stage. I am a novice at this and they are experts but I still think they're wrong.
Any bird experts out there?

Steve

PS. If this is a White Fronted Goose it is very rare for this area.

 

[Lorun]

I think it is a wild goose mixed with domestic. I see a lot of ducks like that also.

 

[Stu]

Those were pretty common at Popcorn Park Zoo years ago. Never gave them much notice; just looked at 'em as plain ol' geese.

 

[Bobbleton]

I think it is a wild goose mixed with domestic. I see a lot of ducks like that also.

I agree. My ecology professor used to call them "barnyard geese", and he's a bird expert. No great classification on them, since their genetic makeup is all over the place and is anybody's guess.

-Bob

 

[uuglypher]

Name that goose!

While I can't be certain that this particular goose is NOT a hybrid-domestic, or is NOT a wierd mutant of a white-fronted goose, I can state that during the 70s I was involved first-hand in cannon netting and then sexing, weighing, blood sampling, and neck and leg banding several thousand migratory snow geese (both white and blue "morphs") at the DeSoto Bend Natl. Refuge along the Missouri River between Iowa and Nebraska. We caught a few (3? 5?) birds of this sort and consensus was (because the dark feathers were gun-metal blue/grey) that they were merely pied (piebald, "locally leukotic") examples of the blue-phase snow goose.

As for this-and-that species being rare here-and-there; at DeSoto Bend we did catch two Ross' geese which breed in Siberia and are supposed to migrate down the west coast to winter in the central valley of California. So I'd suggest that the possibility of the odd white-fronted goose showing up in in the Atlantic flyway is not too great a stretch.

Best t'ye,
Dave Graham

I agree. My ecology professor used to call them "barnyard geese", and he's a bird expert. No great classification on them, since their genetic makeup is all over the place and is anybody's guess.

-Bob

 

[BEHR655]

While I can't be certain that this particular goose is NOT a hybrid-domestic, or is NOT a wierd mutant of a white-fronted goose, I can state that during the 70s I was involved first-hand in cannon netting and then sexing, weighing, blood sampling, and neck and leg banding several thousand migratory snow geese (both white and blue "morphs") at the DeSoto Bend Natl. Refuge along the Missouri River between Iowa and Nebraska. We caught a few (3? 5?) birds of this sort and consensus was (because the dark feathers were gun-metal blue/grey) that they were merely pied (piebald, "locally leukotic") examples of the blue-phase snow goose.

As for this-and-that species being rare here-and-there; at DeSoto Bend we did catch two Ross' geese which breed in Siberia and are supposed to migrate down the west coast to winter in the central valley of California. So I'd suggest that the possibility of the odd white-fronted goose showing up in in the Atlantic flyway is not too great a stretch.

Best t'ye,
Dave Graham

Thanks Dave. I guess I'll never really know for sure.

Steve

 

[woodjin]

I name that goose...why that's Fred. Hey Fred, it's been awhile.

 

[JerseyJim]

Isn't that Goose tonights Dinner?