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December 2009

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From:
Nathaniel Nye <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Nathaniel Nye <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:50:23 -0500
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Good morning and happy holidays!

Today is my first day off, so I've had some mid-morning hours to watch the
lake.  This morning I spotted an obviously diminutive white-cheeked goose
among the other large Canada's.  Having so many geese visible from my house
for these past years has enabled me to really study the different subspecies
of white-cheeked geese.  It is SO interesting.  Some of the best online
sources I've found on the topic include
http://www.oceanwanderers.com/CAGO.Subspecies.html and
http://www.sibleyguides.com/2007/07/identification-of-cackling-and-canada-goose/
.
However, the whole issue of white-cheeked geese may be more complex than
these two sites describe...a recent book by Harold Hanson (2007...see
below) apparently makes a case for 6 species and hundreds of subspecies of
white-cheeked geese.

So, there is one goose out there on my lake that I'm calling a
"Richardson's" Cackling Goose with 95% confidence.  It is barely larger than
a Mallard, has a blocky head with a steep forehead and an angle between bill
and forehead, very short neck, and pale breast.  However there is another
very small goose out on the water that is occasionally associating itself
with the Richardson's, but mostly hanging out with the Canada's. It is
slightly larger than the other Richardson's, but the head shape appears
pretty similar, which leads me to believe that this is probably just another
Richardson's Cackling Goose (there is some size variation within this
subspecies).  Also, "parvipes" Canada Goose would be much rarer in Ohio than
a Richardson's, and a "Taverner's" Cackling Goose, which would also have an
angle between bill and forehead, would be rarer still if not unheard of
(actually, I believe there are no records of either parvipes or taverneri in
Ohio).

Also on the lake:
NORTHERN PINTAIL (2, male and female...a new yard bird!)
Hooded Merganser (1, female)
American Black Duck (1)
Canada Goose (approx. 150, mostly maxima)
Mallard (100-150, one that appears to be hybridized with a Black Duck, and
another ?partial albino?)

There is an article in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology by Robert Payne in
Sept 2009 (vol 121, issue 3...I can email you a PDF of the article if you
want) that reviews the book by Harold Hanson, mentioning "taxonomic problems
with this book".   Has anyone heard of this book by Hanson?  Is there a
better source on white-cheeked geese?  I have pasted in some information on
this Hanson book below.

Good birding!

Nate Nye
Hilliard, OH

THE WHITE-CHEEKED GEESE: BRANTA

CANADENSIS, B. MAXIMA, B. ‘‘LAWRENSIS’’,

B. HUTCHINSII, B. LEUCOPAREIA, AND B.

MINIMA. TAXONOMY, ECOPHYSIOGRAPHIC

RELATIONSHIPS, BIOGEOGRAPHY, AND

EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS. VOLUME

2. WESTERN TAXA, BIOGEOGRAPHY,

AND EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS.

By Harold C. Hanson. Avvar Books, 203 South

Palm Drive, Blythe, California, USA. 2007: xxii +

700 pages, hundreds of maps, tables, morphometric

diagrams, black and white photos of geese in the

wild, goose skins, and habitat. ISBN: 0-9708504-2-

5.

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