Hello Tweeters,

Great discussion. Tough call. Peter Scott, who wrote "A Thousand Geese" (the story of the search for the breeding ground of the pink-footed goose-good read) and caught and marked over 1,151 pinkfeet considered the bean and pinkfoot con-specific. Seems like a common thought in some of the European guides I looked at, with the Pinkfoot a race of Bean.
Anyway . . .
A few references to contribute:
"Handbook of the Birds of Middle East and North Africa" by Cramp-
Pink-footed Goose: Head and upper neck dark brown, paler brown on lower neck; upperparts grey with pink tone and increasingly separated lines of feathers tipped brownish-white, forming regular transverse pattern; tertials and inner secondaries brown-grey, edged pale grey. Upper tail-coverts white contrasting with ash centre to back and dark grey, white-rimmed tail. Chest pink-brown, merging with faintly and irregularly banded brown flanks and belly; upper flanks edged white forming obvious line. Juvenile often with ochre legs and feet. In poor light, difficult to separate from other geese, but compactness, daintier carriage, contrast of dark head with greyer body and grey forewing in flight characteristic. Leg and foot pink when breeding, EXCEPTIONALLY ORANGE.

Bean Goose: Head and neck dark brown, almost black on forehead. Entire upperparts rather uniform dull brown. " Confusion with large, dark individuals of A. brachyrynchus possible, but A. fabalis NEVER SHOWS GREY UPPERPARTS.

"Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic" by Beaman-
Pinkfoot: Smaller, shorter necked and with rounder head and stubbier bill than most individuals of closely related Ben Goose (but matched by some rossicus Bean in structure). Over-all body coloration paler (and greyer above) than Bean, and has much more white in tail. Scapulars and tertials look to be washed almost silvery-grey in good lighting. Juvenile legs and feet dull pale greyish-pink, sometimes yellowish-grey.
Bean: Confusion most likely with Pink-Footed, which may have similar bill shape, but Pin-Footed smaller, with more rounded head, greyer upperparts and more extensive white in tail. Both the upperwing and the underwing lack the distinctive pale grey tones of Pink-Footed.

Interestingly, average wing measurements much longer in Bean but with considerable overlap in range and significant sex differences. Bill length however had no overlap and averages were significantly different.

Bill: male pink: 43-52; female: 40-46
male bean (midd):64-81; female: 63-80 (serr):m:59-72 f:58-69
Lots of overlap in weight.

Also, junglewalk.com has recordings of both.
** dmu.dk/forside_en.asp has information on banding, radio tracking of some individuals, and link to video of banded birds being released (great close-up footage).
It would be very interesting to get an in-hand look at the wing and bill.

Good luck all,

Morris Sandvig
naturebook at msn.com
Olympia



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