[Maine-birds] Re: Pink-footed Goose- NO, Cackling Goose YES at Limestone

I  posted a few photos of the Limestone Cackling Goose here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71911844@N04/10418744414/in/photostream/

A couple people asked how to distinguish these birds from other Canada Goose types.

  

Body size is the obvious clue, but this can lead you astray because we have several subspecies of Canada Geese migrating through Maine in fall and apparent relative size between these can be tricky.  A smaller Atlantic or Interior Canada Goose beside a hulking Giant Canada Goose can look quite tiny. Look at this photo of a known Interior Canada Goose that was captured and marked in Greenland compared to the Giant Canada Goose just behind it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/71911844@N04/10107977935/in/photostream/lightbox/

The notable features (other than size) of this Cackling Goose that help confirm the ID:

apparently short stubby bill compared with nearby Canadas.  (I think David Sibley is onto something when he suggests comparing the ratio of the length of the head to the length of the bill...as we do with the two yellowlegs).

Steep forehead with almost a bump at the brow.  Give's them a bit of a caveman look;

Short, apparently-thicker necked even when alert.

This bird shows a hint of a white ring at the base of the black neck "sock" and

has a silvery tone to the back and wings.  

I noticed, after running a Cackling Goose query on eBird, that Maine is practically surrounded by Cackling Geese currently, with reports stretching from the Gaspe peninsula in Quebec around to Newburyport, MA.  I expect we'll be seeing more in the next week or two.

Good luck.

Bill

On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 2:31 PM, Bill Sheehan <bill.j.sheehan@gmail.com> wrote:

After two days of looking by various birders, it appears the Pink-footed Goose has moved on.

There seems to have been a large scale reshuffling of the goose population up this way over the weekend, with changes of numbers and locales of many flocks.  The huge Collins Pond flock, which contained the Pink-footed and Snow Geese, has shrunk by half.  The departed portion apparently counted the spiffy geese in its number.

Consolation prize for my lunch hour search was a cunning little Cackling Goose in a flock of 1,100 Canada Geese at the mill pond in Limestone.  I'll put some pics of it into my Flickr photostream tonight.

Northern Harriers are practically abundant now.  Saw four in Limestone today and several in Caribou yesterday.

Good birding

--
Bill Sheehan
Woodland, Aroostook Co., Maine
http://northernmainebirds.blogspot.com/

--
Bill Sheehan
Woodland, Aroostook Co., Maine
http://northernmainebirds.blogspot.com/

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