[obol] Re: Cackling goose (Aleutian form)
- From: Shawneen Finnegan <shawneenfinnegan@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: obol <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 09:42:57 -0700
Marlowe:
Dave and I just returned from the annual Western Field Ornithologists's
conference in San Diego last night so if there was a discussion on why this
was identified as an Aleutian I missed it.
BTW, I highly encourage anyone interested in West Coast birds to join this
wonderful organization. The conferences are awesome and next year's will be
in Montana. You do not, by any means, need to be an ornithologist type to
join or appreciate the journal. San Diego, despite the effects of the
severe drought, provided a lot of great birds for people to see including
gobs of Brown Boobies and a few Blue-foots seen from shore, Red-throated
Pipits, Yellow-green Vireo, lots of eastern warblers, Dickcissel, and many
more. Some were only seen briefly by a few like Painted Redstart, but
overall folks were able to see lots of fun birds, plus the local
specialties like California Gnatcatcher. There were a few of us from the
Pacific NW but we would love to see more people attend from our neck of the
woods.
But back to geese. As Bob Archer mentioned, a large white collar does not
make an Aleutian. Head shape is critical given the salt gland.
Dave Irons and I have also spent a lot of time studying geese, particularly
Dave, given his strong interest in white-cheeked geese. He wrote a piece on
the Semidi population that winters in Pacific City area, a subpopulation of
Aleutian.
The captions are where the meat of the ID information is at:
http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/cackling-goose-branta-hutchinsii#/idPhotos
Plus here is a gallery of the variation in Aleutian that Dave has taken:
http://www.birdfellow.com/photos/thumbnails/128-variation-in-aleutian-cackling-goose?id=2020
And the Semidi blog piece is at:
http://www.birdfellow.com/journal/2011/04/26/bird_of_the_week_semidi_islands_cackling_goose
Shawneen Finnegan
Portland, OR
On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 8:28 AM, Bob Archer <rabican1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi:
>
>
> Best way is to look at head shape, from what I understand they have a
> gland in their head to help deal with salt water, so the head looks more
> like a block than other geese. The white collar on neck can be seen on all
> cacklers and is not a good mark to rely on. On an Aleutian form the collar
> should go all the way around the neck. So if head shape is not addressed
> then it would be hard to id an Aleutian in the valley.
>
> Here is a good guide I post just about every year in the late fall :) :
>
>
> http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/waterfowl/goose-permits/Goosefieldguide_2ndEdition_final.pdf
>
>
>
> Bob Archer
> PDX
>
> On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 7:51 AM, Marlowe Kissinger <rosebudgurl@xxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> I saw the picture of the Cackling goose (Aleutian form). How do you tell
>> the difference. The only thing I see is size.
>> Are there any markings that tell it's an Aleutian vs a regular cackling?
>> Just trying to learn.
>>
>> Marlowe
>>
>
>
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