Quite the debate at BirdingPI.com about the recent Snow Goose sighting on the Erie bayfront. The geese were gone Thursday morning, but thankfully plenty of stills and video in the can. After a thorough analysis by BirdingPI.com’s crack team of bird identification experts (see below), officially calling it as two blue morph Snow Geese and one Ross’s Goose (!)
Three Snow Geese near downtown Erie makes sense, albeit uncommon. Two Snow Geese and a Ross’s Goose would be highly unusual, hence the predilection towards the former. But, let’s discuss…
First, as the baseline, following is clearly an adult blue morph Snow Goose:
Blue body color with white head = blue morph. Following annotated enlargement shows common Snow Goose features – A: entirely orange-ish bill; B: substantial curve on where the bill meets the cheek feathers/head; C: pronounced black “grin line” where the bill mandibles meet. Overall, large bill and triangular-shaped head.
Moving on to the Ross’s Goose (white goose in middle), note its substantially smaller size than the Snow Geese:
Following is an annotated enlargement of the Ross’s Goose in comparison – A: bill has gray base; B: line where bill meets head is straighter and with substantially less curving; C: very little black “grin line.” Overall, small/blunter bill and rounded head.
Finally, some interesting articles online (Snow Goose vs. Ross’s Goose), including this one explaining the much increased range of the Ross’s Goose, its overlap in territory with that of the Snow Goose, and the possibility of interbreeding/hybrids: Birdwatching Daily article.
And with all that, conclusion is Ross’s Goose (or hybrid)!
More goose trio:
Bonus video clips posted soon.
[Photo Editor’s note: shots taken in the evening under cloudy conditions, hence the uneven lighting/exposure.]
Edit with environmental context (iPhone through fence):
