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December 2007

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Subject:
From:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:25:40 -0500
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  We owe David Sibley an enormous debt for his work with bird guides,
but I wish he'd never published new names for various taxa, one example
of which is the six he offers under "Canada Goose" in the edition Nate
cites. It confuses things for those who rely too exclusively on his
works, especially when he does not give the scientific name for each.
The subsequent split of the cackling goose B. hutchinsii, and the
possibility of more splits to come among the white-cheeked geese make it
even more problematic. The best thing is to use current scientific
nomenclature until everything settles down. Even that may not be enough:
one goose expert (Hanson) has promised "at least 186 [!!] geographic
races (subspecies) of [white cheeked] geese will be recognized in a
yet-to-be published work." In a way, this is cleansing, giving us a
clearer idea of evolution at work in its multifarious ways, where our
names are always to some extent arbitrary and never wholly satisfying.
Bill Whan
Columbus

Nathaniel Nye wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Bill Whan pointed out to me that parvipes Canada Geese would be pretty
> unlikely (but possible of course) out here in Ohio.  Thanks again for
> pointing that out, Bill.  I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions on what
> subspecies all the geese were.  However, I do know that a number of the
> geese out on the water were noticeably smaller (shorter neck, smaller bill)
> than others.  In making that distinction I have been very careful in my
> observations of the geese to note whether the goose really is smaller, or if
> its neck is just hunched down and LOOKS smaller.  I will add that there is a
> large flock of geese that hangs out at my neighborhood pond all year, and
> they are the "bigger" variety.  These geese that I'm talking about seem to
> be new arrivals and are noticeably smaller than the resident geese I'm used
> to (but still quite a bit larger than the Cackling Goose).  Based on my
> Sibley guide (The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2000 edition), I just assumed that
> the bigger Canadas were what he calls "Common" and the smaller were what he
> calls "Lesser."  I then combined that with information from his website,
> which is where my false assumptions came in.  I assumed that Lesser would be
> the parvipes (by elimination, but without considering range because the
> Sibley website doesn't make much mention of it) and the Common would be the
> "interior", as opposed to canadensis (Atlantic coast) and maxima (range
> unspecified, but apparently reintroduced in many areas after being nearly
> extirpated about a century ago).  I guess the reason for posting this is to
> raise the issue for other birders who who may want to contribute their own
> knowledge and experience to the discussion, and for others (like me!) who
> might be interested in learning the distinction between Canada Goose
> subspecies.  In any case, I'll try to get some good photos of the two sizes
> of geese I've been seeing.  Thanks again!
>
> -Nate Nye

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