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| Cackling Goose (?), or Lesser Canada Goose, (?) Aleutian Goose or B.h. taverneri (?) -Any ideas by readers much appreciated with many thanks! (Fukushimagata, Niigata, Japan, October 27, 2010) I originally thought these were Cackling Geese, but I'm a little confused by my bird guides. These clearly have a white collar (around the base of the neck) but the photos in the only guide I have depicting "Cackling Geese" don't have any hint of white collars. Another older, Japanese guide, has only one goose species that looks anything like this and just has it listed as a "Canada Goose"; and according to the third guide, Birds of East Asia - China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Russia (by Mark Brazil), they are a subspecies of, "Lesser Canada Goose" but again the white-collars of these birds seem to indicate they are more likely "Aleutian Goose" Branta hutchinsii leucopareia and not "Cackling Goose" Branta hutchinsii minima (which is fairly small and again depicted without having a white collar). ....And in hindsight, I thought these were fairly large, which according to the Brazil guide they could even be Branta hutchinsii taverneri, (but doesn't list the common name). I remember a few days after I saw them I asked a Japanese friend what they possibly were and he just gave me a Japanese name which just "vagued me out". Fukushimagata, Niigata has waterbirds in the tens of thousands in Autumn and I didn't think they were that special at the time. |
6 comments:
Wow very interesting! Didn't know that they arrive so early. I found this in the Sibley Guides website
"White collars
A white collar at the base of the neck below the dark “neck sock” is a conspicuous feature of some Canada and Cackling Geese. It tends to be more common in the smaller subspecies and is most conspicuous in the dark-breasted ones, since it contrasts more with a dark breast than with a pale one. A survey by Marquardt (1961) of presumed B. c. parvipes and B. h. hutchinsii in the southern Central flyway (Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas) found that nearly 50% of adults and 25% of immatures had white collars, even though Palmer (1976) and Mowbray et al (2002) report that these two subspecies seldom show a white collar. Even in B. h. leucopareia, the Aleutian Cackling Goose that is characterized by a broad white collar, Palmer (1976) reports a survey of nesting birds on Buldir Island, Alaska in which 47 birds had a white collar, 9 had no white collar, and 8 had breasts so pale that a white collar was not discernible. Perhaps with more data the presence of a white collar will have some value as a weak indicator of one subspecies over another, but at this point it seems nearly worthless."
More at http://www.sibleyguides.com/2007/07/identification-of-cackling-and-canada-goose/
Thanks so much for your super comment, Ayuwat!
Hi Russell - always ones to cause confusion these geese. Here is another site that may shed some light on your finding.
http://www.oceanwanderers.com/CAGO.Subspecies.html
Nice information from Ayuwat there Russell which doesn't seem to make the birds easier to race. I wouldn't worry though as they are just super flight shots.
I think they are pretty scarce in Japan whatever race they are.
In the UK there are huge numbers of feral Canada Geese and most birders pretty much ignore them.
These were real wild ones!!!!!
I had no idea there were different varieties of Canada geese. Very interesting.
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