Hi folks,

Ian Paulsen noted that he'd seen a Canada Goose with a white neck-'collar',
and speculated whether it might be an Aleutian.

I thought I'd throw my 2-cents'-worth in on this one. I spent several years
running around the Willamette Valley reading the plastic neck collars on the
Dusky (Branta canadensis occidentalis) and Cackling (B.c. minima) - and a
few moffitti - Canada Geese back in the 70s and 80s. I can't imagine how
many hundred of hours I used to spend 'scoping flocks of Canda geese,
counting the flocks as to subspecies (i.e., 244 Cacklers, 179 Taverner's, 23
Duskys, etc.), then reading the alpha-numeric plastic neck collars.

I wish now that I would have spent a bit of time recording the incidence of
the white neck-ring in the several subspecies of geese that winter in
western Washington/Oregon, since I have heard that question asked pretty
often. Even more often since the National Geographic guide emphasized the
white neck-ring for the Aleutian race without their noting that the other
subspecies might have the same characteristic...

The white ring of feathers at the base of the neck-stocking (the 'collars'
of the following messages) was present in all the subspecies of Canadas that
I observed. When I was down in Oregon over the New Years' holiday, I spent
a few hours on Ankeny NWR, just south of Salem, to get an idea of how many
geese had that white neck-ring.

I observed 517 Cacklers, of which 114 (22%) had the white neck-ring. I
checked 126 Tavs, B.c. taverneri, of which 22 (18%) had the neck-rings, and
4 of 9 Duskies (44%, but that's not a very representative sample...I would
bet a greater sample size would show a lower percentage). These white
neck-rings ranged from just traces or semi-circles of white, to heavy white
feathering that encircled the neck at the base of the black neck stocking.

The few times in the past that I was certain that I was observing Aleutians
(I was certain that they were B.c. leucopareia because they were wearing
alpha-numeric leg bands...), the entire group of birds with the marked geese
had the white neck-ring. Some had the 'full' ring as shown in the Nat. Geo.
guide, accompanied by birds that had 'thinner' rings. The juveniles of all
the dark to dark-gray subspecies tend to be 'paler' on the chest than do the
adults, and I wouldn't be surprised if the juveniles also showed
less-distinct white neck-rings - but that's just speculation on my part.
Maybe someone has some information from the waterfowl hunting check-stations
in SW Washington, Sauvie's Island or the W. Valley?

I have not had the opportunity to observe many 'lesser' Canadas, B.c.
parvipes, so don't know how that race compares to the ones here on the
'coast'. Nor, have I paid any attention to the common "Western" or "Great
Basin" Canadas, B.c. moffitti; maybe I can take a look at neck-ring
incidence in this locally-nesting subspecies before the cities, Animal
Damage Control folks, and other agencies 'reduce the local population' too
much.....

As far as identifying the various subspecies of Canadas (we have 6
subspecies that winter/migrate through the PNW regularly - Lessers,
Taverner's, Vancouvers B.c. fulva, Dusky, Aleutian and Cackling, as well as
the resident 'Western' Canada.), it's not all that hard. The lessers, Tavs
and Aleutians are fairly similar, as are the Dusky and Vancouver races.
But, the ODFW/WDFW waterfowl management types figure that the goose hunters
can differentiate them, and provide identification pamphlets and videos
(check the ODFW/WDFW web pages for addresses and info...). A day or two
spent trying to separate the subspecies at Ridgefield or Baskett Slough
NWR - or any other place where a lot of the races winter - will do wonders
toward making one an 'expert' at Canada goose ID.

Best,

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net

----- Original Messages -----
Subject: Re: small Canada Goose
"Andrew Engilis, Jr." <aengilisjr at ucdavis.edu>
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 11:27:38 -0800

The variability of neck collars may be related to age in Aleutians. Many
birds of the year Aleutians can lack the neck collar. One good field
characteristic for Aleutian is the size of the nail on the bill, which is
both longer and more robust than Cackler, giving the bird a bumped look on
the tip. Another possibility might be a Richardson's Canada Goose (B. c.
hutchinsii), which is paler on the breast and also has a tad bigger bill
than Cackler. Richardson's is more common in the Central Flyway, but from
time to time they can stray, they have been recorded in Hawaii for
example). As a note the neck collar on Aleutians is unique when present
because it is clearly framed below by blackish brown feathers. This
"framing" is a lacking in Cacklers and Richardson's which both can have
neck collars. Some of the mid-sized birds can also have a neck collar
(Taverners). The best illustration of this framing for Aleutian is in
Sibley's book. There are no illustrations of juv. Aleutians, which can lack
a neck collar. Unfortunately loaner birds often have to go unidentified as
to subspecies.

Cheers --
Andy Engilis
University of California, Davis

At 08:05 PM 1/7/01 -0800, ian paulsen wrote:
>HI ALL:
> I found a small Canada Goose today here on Bainbridge Island that seems
>to me to be too grayish in color to be a Cackling Goose. I was thinking it
>might be a ALeutian Goose but it lacks the white neck collar. Does anyone
>have a really good reference on how to separate the two in the field?
>Sincerely
>
>Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen
>Bainbridge Is., WA, USA
>ipaulsen at linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us
>"Rallidae all the way"