Gene Hunn wrote:

"It does seem strange, however, that local Snow Geese, presumably from
Wrangel Island in the high tundra should be stained like taiga-nesting
Trumpeters and not like tundra-nesting Tundra Swans."

I thought of that too, Gene, and it made me realize how much we *don't*
know about some of these phenomena. I looked in a half-dozen books on
waterfowl and couldn't find any answers, except "some individuals stained
with ferrous deposits" or "often with heads stained rusty" for Snow Goose.
"Often" or "some" just doesn't do it for the Stanwood [WA] birds, which
looked essentially 100% stained. Also, some books talk about staining on
the face, and many of these birds had stains well down to the base of the
neck. I was looking only at the hundreds close at hand, but it would be
interesting actually to do a survey of Snow Goose flocks all over the place
for % stained.

In the latest comprehensive waterfowl ID book, Madge and Burn say about
Snow Goose "rusty staining is common on head and neck," and for Ross's
Goose "less inclined to become stained with rusty colour on the head than
Snow Goose." I wonder if they are hedging their bets, or if they have
actually seen Ross's Geese with stained heads. They also say for Trumpeter
Swan "head and neck often stained rusty" but don't say anything about
staining under Whistling Swan (which they distinguish from Bewick's).

Emperor Geese can also have stained heads.

I think it's time to get a handle on this staining. I'm going to post this
to BIRDCHAT too, since Dan Victor is on vacation for a month.
BIRDCHATTERS, this thread began with several of us commenting that
wintering Trumpeter Swans were stained with reddish (presumably iron
deposits) here in WA and BC, and Tundras weren't. We also noticed that our
wintering Snow Geese were stained, but the occasional Ross's wasn't.
What's the scoop elsewhere in the country? Could anyone with information
please post a copy to tweeters at u.washington.edu for all of us not
subscribed to BIRDCHAT?

Seems to me it wouldn't take much effort to segue from stained geese to
stained glass.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416