Some of you may remember the post I made a while back ago about the strange relationship that was going on at Brierly Pond in Millbury between a Graylag Goose and two Canada Geese. I was over there one day taking pictures and a woman who feeds them told me the Greylag was female and just had goslings! I took a good look at them and couldn't tell any of the goslings apart so just assumed they were all Canada Geese until I got an email from Alan last night telling me they were indeed hybrids!
I decided to go over there this morning to check for myself and get some pictures.
And here is the proud mama/pappa??? of the hybrids. There are two of them mixed in with other Canada Geese Goslings (almost adults), so it seems as if there was a nest going on between the Graylag/Canada Goose and just regular Canada Geese at the same time as I saw up to a dozen of them the day I went to get photos close to a month ago when they were so young you couldn't tell them apart.
Here is a good comparison shot between a Canada Goose and the Canada Goose x Graylag Goose.
Eating bread (Yes, I brought some with me which I usually don't do). I knew I had to in order to get pics of them though. ;o). The neighbor came over after they had polished off the 1/2 loaf I had given them with another loaf so these geese are not starving. I am not even sure if they eat the food they are supposed to eat because they are too filled up w/ bread!
Another good comparison shot Notice the lack of white on the breast of the hybrid. I find it very interesting that it shares the same tail field marks as the Canada Goose though. It also appeared to have paler legs than the Canada Goose.
It definitely has it's mother's butt though. ;o)
Take care everyone.
15 comments:
That is too cool!!
The parentage of some hybrids are often difficult to confirm but you have definitely cracked this one Kim.
EB, it was easy because the Canada and Greylag are the only two there! HA! I am not that clever......Yet. ;o)
Amazing, Kim....I wonder how many birds actually do that.. Can you imagine what a hybrid baby would look like if a Bluebird mated with a Cardinal!!! Talk about a USA bird... ha
Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Betsy
cool mutants!
Cool, your suspicions proved true! I always learn something from your posts - this one's no different. Neat story & photos.
Very interesting!
That is odd that they would mix like that. I would think this would very seldom happen. Helen
That is weird and interesting. Though, most things weird are interesting. How are we supposed to id some of these birds if they keep interbreeding! That would have confused the hell out of me, much like a lot of the weird hybrid ducks. There should be a law. Great documentation.
So interesting! Well, you just never know what attracts one goose to another... tee hee hee!
I do admire your photos of so many geese. They are a noisy bunch.
Wow. That's amazing. How exciting to be witness to hybrid babies.
That's a great side by side comparison of the Canada Goose and the Canada Goose x Greylag Goose.
Good capture!
Very interesting post. I assume the greylag is an escapee? I had the good fortune last year of seeing a canada x greater white front at Milgrove in PA - Audubon's first home. The unusual things are always intriguing. Great book on the sometimes tangled relations of Canada Geese is Heinrich, The Geese of Beaver Bog.
Thanks all! yes it is interesting to say the least. The Graylag has been around for a while so I am wondering if there have been other hybrids besides this past year.
Chris, I will have to check out that book as Heinrich is one of my favorite authors. Haven't even read his newest book though, been slacking...
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