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 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]