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Canada Geese

Branta canadensis species

Photo by HemaShah
Published on Project Noah
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36.7783, -119.418

Field Notes

Description:

@ Liam,in this spotting i suspect that there are at least three varieties of Geese. Cackling, Canadian and Aleutian Canadian Goose or Aleutian Cackling goose.
Any Feedback from you will be appreciated. Thanks.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (12)
HemaShah
@ Malcolm ,Thnx for your feedback. i identified this spotting as ""Branta canadensis" sp
HemaShah
@ Liam,another good link. http://johnrakestraw.net/2009/02/21/lesser-canada-goose/
HemaShah
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=lesser+canada+geese&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:offici
HemaShah
@ Liam , I am going to crop and upload the smaller one which is not feeding for Lesser Canada.
Liam
That one could be an Aleutian, but I can't see the bill well enough to say so indefinitely. I do not believe the Canada Geese are sexually dimorphic.
p.young713
Thank you, Emma!! Happy New Year!! " I love these geese, we never have these in Florida"!! Emma are you on twitter? I noticed you used the @? I haven't signed up for it yet?
HemaShah
@ Laim , http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/8333373
HemaShah
@ pyoung,Welcome back! Happy New Year!!
HemaShah
@ Malcolm and Liam Tnx for the feed back. The big one of course is Canadian. Liam are the rest of them Lesser CAnadian and should I ID them as such. There is one feeding in the grass which has a whiteband around its neck. taht could be an Aleutian Canadian goose. The male and female are quite similar .i was wondering if there is a female in the picture?or the shorter ones are all lesser?
Liam
I am seeing Common (Branta canadensis maxima) and Lesser (Branta canadensis parvipes), but no Cackling. As Malcolm stated, most of them are Canada Goose subspecies. The Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) is a separate species, as of 2005.
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
Emma, they are all Canadian Geese but there are at least 10 sub-species which vary in size and/or colour. The smaller ones have a cackling call, hence that name. The colour variations are subtle but the sizes vary quite a lot. All have the Latin name "Branta canadensis" but each sub-species will have a third name following that. Beyond that I am unable to help, except give you this wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Goose .

Spotted for Missions

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Birds of the World
Mission
Waterbirds And Their Hybrids
Photographed
PublishedJanuary 8, 2012

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