Greetings All

I've noted a number of reports of Aleutian Geese recently. They are known to occur regularly on the WA coast in small numbers, primarily during fall migration. Records away from the outer coast are quite unusual. Most make a cross-ocean journey that makes landfall south of Washington.

A fair percentage of both Bh minima and taverneri will show complete neck bands, and the occasional bird will even have a dark neck band subtended by black/blackish like a typical Aleutian (and, on the converse, not all Aleutians have complete neckbands, and a fair number lack the blackish beneath the neckband).

Aleuts are typically fairly dark and slightly glossy on breast, but paler and of a different hue than minima. This would be exceedingly difficult to accurately discern in a lone bird, easier in a bird with minima or taverneri.

Aleutians should also be distinctly larger than minima, more within the size range of taverneri, but I believe smaller than taverneri on average. Aleutians have a somewhat boxy head shape that differs from typical taverneri or minima and a bill that is proportionately larger than that of minima.

The two birds the Sullivans recently photographed on the outer coast look like fairly typical Aleutians, and more can be seen at the following website, though I'd say the first pic in particular makes the birds look darker than they typically appear.


http://www.badboybirding.com/ALGO_01192003.htm

Finally, it should be noted that estimating darkness of breast, after all I've said, is extrememly difficult. Even practiced goose biologists under tightly controlled conditions were found to vary greatly on the estimation of breast darkness, with a Munsell color scale in front of them. Not only between biologists, but even the same biologist, with the same goose, under identical lighting varied greatly from moment to moment in some instances.

Cheers
Steven Mlodinow
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