Hi Tweets,

Bob B. writes:

>The bird is no more a "kept bird" than the 50-200 Canada Geese and
>White-fronted Geese it travels with. It is not in an "enclosure," so to
>speak, instead always seen grazing in the bison and reindeer area, which
>must be larger than 5 acres in size. It flies in and out with the other
>geese. It has been seen with the other geese at other sites in the area,
>sometimes up to almost a mile away. Clearly it is not always at the game
>farm -- in fact, checks of the game farm in early morning and late
>evening frequently miss the bird, suggesting that it roosts elsewhere
>with its pals.

But the description here of the goose's behavior could just as equally apply
to a free-flying domestic escapee which has fallen into wild company--there
are a number of quite mobile flocks of Canada Goose Branta canadensis in
Greater Vancouver BC which contain one or two free-flying domestics. One
even contained, for a while, a free-flying Barnacle Goose B. leucopsis which
led to some spirited debates about countability similar to this one. Many
waterfowl, including escapes and releases, are more loyal to the flock than
they are to the site.

>Certainly the possibility that it was reared in captivity
>exists

Conversely, then, there is a reasonable doubt concerning its wild origin.

>but since it is not banded

Neither are most escapees: enforcement seems lax, so any regulations
obligating owners of aviary waterfowl to mark their birds seem more honored
in the breach than the observance. Known waterfowl escapes I have
seen--hauled out--in Vancouver BC include Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferrugina
(Iona--2), Shelduck T. tadorna (Serpentine Fen), Mandarin Aix galericulata
(Lost Lagoon, mostly, but several other locations also), Chiloe Wigeon Anas
sibilatrix (Iona), Cape Teal A. capensis (Lost Lagoon), Australian Shoveler
A. rhynchotis (Iona), Marbled Duck Marmoretta angustirostris (Lost
Lagoon--2) and Ringed Teal Callonetta leucophrys (Lost Lagoon--3), and not
one single bird wore a band.

>and it seems to behave very much like
>other Emperor Geese seen up and down the Pacific Coast, I would guess
>that it is a wild bird.

Behavior is not a good criterion for establishing wild provenance, though:
waterfowl--geese in particular--are notorious for habituating quickly,
sometimes within hours, to human presence and/or roosting/feeding opportunities.

>When Ostriches can fly here on their own, perhap we can count them, too.

Well, imagine the 'to-list-or-not-to-list' choice which would have awaited
you for several years consecutive had a particular Alaska-to-south-BC
migrant flock of Canada Geese flown in with its associate Greater Flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber tagging along. '-) After its escape from the flamingo
enclosure at the thankfully now-defunct Stanley Park Zoo, it ended up at
Boundary Bay and fell in with a flock of geese at Serpentine Fen.

Bottom line is, that as long as a reasonable doubt of wild origin exists,
it's likely not an acceptable entry for any official record --I believe
that's the orthodox approach for any rarity committee faced with such a
situation--though official notice might be taken of it, while individual
birders count or not count according to the degree of rigor or relaxation of
their personal criteria and conscience.

Well, how to establish whether it is wild? From what I've read about this
bird so far, I don't think it's possible, on available evidence, just a
'best guess'; but best guesses don't pass the minimum requirements for
acceptance in the average rarities committee. But the case for a wild origin
would be stronger, if still circumstantial, by analysis of previous records,
particularly arrival and departure dates of this birds and others of this
species elsewhere in the Cascadian region, in context with those of other
migrant species about the same time, combined with a thorough correlation
with weather data for the Pacific Coast over a period of a week or two
before and during its average arrival period.

If someone could demonstrate that it arrives about the same time as others
of its species along the coast, and/or typically arrives and leaves with,
say, a particular type of migrant, non-resident race of Canada Geese or
other goose species, or it and other Emperors show up at a certain time when
the jet streams, Pacific Lows and the Arctic Front align in characteristic
ways along the coast, then if this bird fits in with a more general pattern
of arrival, departure and distribution, the support for a wild origin would
be stronger.

Still, unlike the flamingo, without *knowing* its origin this really
wouldn't prove anything, at least about this individual (though the research
would not be wasted if it turns up other migration-sequence patterns about
other species): it could still have been aviary-raised and simply adopted
the migratory patterns of its companions. It's still a 'best guess' question.

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net

"She's psychic....we've decided to find it charming."
--Frasier