scall0way Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 saw this apparent goose family in Jacksonville FL today - a Canada goose, a swan goose, three rather indeterminate geese. Do you think these could be swan/Canada hybrids? 2018-07-28 Perdue geese by scall0way, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inastrangeland Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 The "intermediate" geese you're speaking of look like young Canada geese.....their young feathers don't make for the contrast you see in the adults. This IS the time of year you would see young this size as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bird Nuts Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 I think @scall0way is right - one Canada, one domestic Swan Goose (with some domestic Graylag in it), and three domestic Swan/Graylag X Canada Geese hybrids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bird Nuts Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 6 minutes ago, The Bird Nuts said: three domestic Swan/Graylag X Canada Geese hybrids. (Because of the brownish plumage, large, light-colored bills, and large rear ends) 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scall0way Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 On 7/28/2018 at 9:54 PM, Inastrangeland said: The "intermediate" geese you're speaking of look like young Canada geese.....their young feathers don't make for the contrast you see in the adults. This IS the time of year you would see young this size as well. Thanks, I've been seeing tons of young Canada geese over the last two months and none of them have had plumage remotely like these three! All going from a fuzzy brownish and then a pale imitation of adult plumage, but still distinct chin straps, etc. Like these youngsters I monitored. By the time they are as big as the parents their Canada plumage is quite distinct. 2018-04-14 mall geese by scall0way, on Flickr 2018-06-02 JPHall geese by scall0way, on Flickr 2019-06-16 JP Hall geese by scall0way, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inastrangeland Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I appreciate you talking the time to send this. The more I look at that first picture the more I see the hybrid features, in particular the slope in the bill. Thanks for the follow up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I'm not sure of what the answer is but the downward slope of their bills looks almost identical to that of the domestic swan's bill and much less like the bill of a typical Canada goose. This could very well be a hybrid (in my completely unprofessional opinion). Wonder what some others might think ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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