On Feb. 27 Dennis Paulson wrote:

>Finally, it's interesting that Snow Geese also have stained heads, I assume
>the same iron in the water that stains the Trumpeters. Not all of them
>have this, but it looked to me that essentially all the birds in the
>Stanwood flock did so. Wonder if you could pick out a Ross' Goose by its
>white head (they don't seem to be stained)? We also have small numbers of
>Snow Geese from the Canadian-breeding populations in this region, and
>perhaps they're not stained.

I agree, Dennis, regarding Snow/Ross' Goose head staining. All Ross' Goose
heads I remember have been pure white and I was wondering too, if it was a
fairly reliable feature or just my imagination (I don't have experience with
great numbers of Ross" Geese).

Scott Ray
209 S. 40th Ave
Yakima, WA 98908
scray at delphi.com