Greylag geese eye line colour (1 Viewer)

[mooskibaby]

Hi,

I was wondering if you could help me with this please. The eye line colour around the eye of a Greylag Goose, does it differ for the male and female? I have noticed that one has a pinkish coloured eye rim, the other a yellow rim.

If you could help me I would appreciate it.

Thank you in advance.

 

[DaveN]

Hi Anna, I wasn't really aware of differing eye line colour in different sexes of Greylags but i did find something else out.

In the Collins Bird guide it has a picture of a anser Greylag (Europe) and a rubrirostris Greylag (Siberia) and although it doesn't mention anything in the text, the eye ring on the rubrirostris seems more defined than the eyering on the anser. Not sure about the Yellow rim that you mention though.

 

[mooskibaby]

Here is a picture. It isn't my photograph because for some reason I couldn't upload mine. On this photograph you can see the different coloured rim around the eye.

 

[KnockerNorton]

Ringing guide (Baker) says eye ring "pink or yellow" on adult, dull in immatures, with size of bird being used as the sexing criteria. So it sounds like eye ring is not consistent/important with sex.

 

[mooskibaby]

So it isn't anything to do with the sex of the bird, it is to do with the maturity of the bird.

 

[KnockerNorton]

So it isn't anything to do with the sex of the bird, it is to do with the maturity of the bird.

Looks like it's linked with neither, and is just one of those random(ish) things.