Thanks Phil for your comments and also posting a link to the latest
contribution to the Cackling Goose discussion.
I think often times we get too caught up in trying to affix a label on things
even when it is not clear.
As for the "Smew" well at least the NJ folks are keeping a stiff upper lip
about the whole affair. It will be all well and good until it shows up on
someone's eBird list and then it will be on :-)
風 Swift as the wind
林 Quiet as the forest
火 Conquer like the fire
山 Steady as the mountain
Sun Tzu The Art of War
> (\__/)
> (= '.'=)
> (") _ (")
> Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device!
Andrew Baksh
www.birdingdude.blogspot.com
> On Feb 19, 2016, at 2:31 PM, Phil Jeffrey [email protected] [ebirdsnyc]
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> 1. The Smew is very likely a hoax, although some might still look for it.
> See:
> http://birding.aba.org/message.php?mesid=1072437&MLID=NJ01&MLNM=New%20Jersey
>
> 2. A post just popped up on "ID Frontiers" re: the CPK goose and the
> Canada-Cackling morass in general. I've appended a snippet relevant to the
> CPK goose below. Whole post is at:
> http://listserv.ksu.edu/web?A2=ind1602c&L=birdwg01&T=0&P=2798
>
> (The whole post might make you somewhat grateful that we really only have to
> deal with separating Richardson's Cackling from various large Canada ssp).
> The third sentence really should have some people revising their eBird
> checklists.
>
> Snippet:
> "10) The NY bird. I love Tweit's analysis, can't improve upon it much. That
> bird is not a Cackling.
>
>
> I don't like the back shape mark some alluded to for separating Cackling from
> Canada. Cathy Sheeter did some further digging into images, and she also
> does not like that mark. I am not at all certain whence it arises. The
> relative wing length ... I think is proportional to size, not dependent on
> taxon directly.
>
>
> So, if the NY bird is not a Cackling Goose, then what? Hybrid is possible,
> but the bill looks well within range of normal Canada. Cathy Sheeter
> mentioned the possibility of a "runt" Canada.
>
>
> Ahhh. The NY Bird is distinctly on the dark side (coloration wise, not
> referring to an allegiance to messrs Voldemort or Vader). Why would a hybrid
> be dark? For that matter, why would a parvipes be dark (the ones in Colorado
> are no darker on average than the Richys). However, the interior that breed
> on islands in s. Hudson Bay (or is it James Bay?) are known to be smaller and
> darker than those that breed on the adjacent coast (btw, these differences
> have been proven by Leafloor to be entirely due to diet: amount and content).
> This bird is small and dark.
>
>
> So, the answer is unknowable in my mind. I would lean toward, in order, a
> small, dark Bc interior; parvipes, CANG x CACG. Those are my guesses. The one
> thing that I feel confident of is that this is NOT a Cackling Goose.
> "
>
> Phil
>
>
> __._,_.___
> Posted by: Phil Jeffrey <[email protected]>
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