Thanks for posting about the ID Frontiers thread, Paul.  And thanks to Matt
for posting 13 more photos of the Ashtabula goose to his Flickr account!

Like some of those intermediate Thayer's/Kumlien's Gulls, or silent
"Traill's" Flycatchers in fall, some birds just can't be IDed to species
with certainty.  :-)

One of the things I took away from discussions of this bird (both on the
web and in private conversations with others) is that there are white geese
that fall into an area of phenotypic overlap between Ross's and
"Snoss's"/hybrids; that is, they look like both "pure" Ross's and like the
hybrid offspring of Ross's and Lesser Snow Geese. We simply can't
distinguish between some Ross's and some hybrids.

That said, it seems most people consider the Ashtabula bird a probable
hybrid, but there is small-but-not-insignificant chance it's a pure Ross's
(with the odds leaning a little towards hybrid, like Paul said). So what
does one do with that unavoidable uncertainty?  Personally, that category
of bird is one I'd call a Ross's /Snow or "white goose" for checklist (or
eBird) purposes, followed by copious notes speculating on the taxonomic
details beyond that. Someone with more experience might be able to call
some birds way or another, but for other birds, "I don't know" is probably
the best anyone can do.

Good birding,
Paul Hurtado
Columbus, OH

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