Re: [SBB] Canada Goose - What's wrong with this picture?

["Alvaro Jaramillo" <[[email protected]]>]

Title: Canada Goose - What's wrong with this picture?

Vivek

 

   This is perfectly normal, females are noticeably smaller than males. You have a photo where there is a bit of an illusion (telephoto lenses do this) of enlarging things in the background, and perhaps a smaller female than usual. However, this is normal and if you concentrate on looking at pairs of Canada Geese you can sex them easily by looking at size and structure; they also differ in behavior and voice. The white on the forehead is something that shows up sometimes on these “golf course geese.” It appears to have been a moderately common patter shown by Giant Canada Geese, and when these were mixed with others and this park goose that people have introduced all over the continent was created, well that rare pattern remains and shows up here and there.

 

Regards

 

Al

 

Alvaro Jaramillo

[[email protected]]

Half Moon Bay, CA

 

Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide

http://www.fieldguides.com/home.htm

 

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From: [[email protected]] [mailto:[[email protected]]] On Behalf Of Tiwari, Vivek
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:24 PM
To: SBB
Subject: [SBB] Canada Goose - What's wrong with this picture?

 

Took the following photograph in Alviso on May 1^st.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30419272@N00/144705030/

Two (presumably) adult Canada Geese with chicks. 1 chick visible at bottom of the picture

If so, why the big difference in size in the two “adult” birds?

Is this a pair? Is there sexual dimorphism in this species? Are these different subspecies?

If not a pair, is the smaller, slender bird an immature from an ealier year/brood?

Or just a perfectly normal variation, nothing strange here?

Don’t know if its relevant but the smaller / slender bird appeared to a bare patch of the forehead as seen here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30419272@N00/144711875/

A sick bird?

Thanks!

Vivek Tiwari

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