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ID help please: is it a Cackling Goose? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter heromei
- Start date
Seems to be a fair bit smaller and has a much shorter bill so might well be. I'm not well versed on all the various races of Branta geese though so someone else can confirm or deny 
birdmeister
Well-known member
A smaller bird indeed, but to my eye the head and bill are only smaller (not proportionally different) than those of the Canadas. One of those birds where I'd lean towards a smaller Canada G. over Cackling.
A2GG
Beth
This is my impression too and the bill doesn't seem short enough; in the first photo the bill looks close in length to the others.
I think it may be a small female Canada and her neck is just not extended like the others.
Thanks!Seems to be a fair bit smaller and has a much shorter bill so might well be. I'm not well versed on all the various races of Branta geese though so someone else can confirm or deny
Thanks birdmeister and A2GG!
How about these 2? Still a Canada? Even the billed is proportionally different than the others?
Thanks again.
I agree.
Thanks!
birdmeister
Well-known member
I'm not totally sure on your most recent photos, but that bird(s?) looks closer to Cackling to me. It's a bit difficult to judge the real color based on it being a back-of-camera image, but structurally it looks closer. The two things that stick out to me are the stubbier bill and rounder head. I'm not sure I would confidently call it a Cackling in the field, though.
I'm attaching a few photos of "classic" Cackling Geese that I saw locally last winter. The best candidates show a shockingly tiny bill and very rounded head, often with a "frostier" plumage than surrounding Canadas. The overcast photo shows a group of 3, with sunlit photos of 2 birds. Hope this helps a bit! There are always birds that look in between and are really hard to tell.
I'm attaching a few photos of "classic" Cackling Geese that I saw locally last winter. The best candidates show a shockingly tiny bill and very rounded head, often with a "frostier" plumage than surrounding Canadas. The overcast photo shows a group of 3, with sunlit photos of 2 birds. Hope this helps a bit! There are always birds that look in between and are really hard to tell.
Attachments
An alert bird looking up will have a longer looking neck than a relaxed bird oblivious to nearby potential threats.Same goes for birds getting ready for take off, but this is always accompanied by vocalisations. I agree with the birdmeister
