ML249787341

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

First found on February 22 by Greg Hanisek. Believed by some to be the first wild record of the species in North America*. It was feeding in a stubble cornfield with approx. 75 Canada Geese at 11:09 a.m. It was the same size as the Canadas. It did not have the bulging breast that would be expected in a domestic bird. At one point it appeared to be sleeping--sitting on the ground and resting its head on its shoulder This bird was still present when I left at 12:10 p.m. Photos attached. According to Nick Bonomo's blog The Shorebirder, he states "Interestingly, the Wallingford area farm fields and reservoirs have been a haven for Greenland geese over the years (including several Canadas banded in Greenland, several Greenland Greater White-fronted Geese, and Barnacle Goose)." *Addendum--The Avian Records Committee of Connecticut later voted to accept this record as the first documented sighting of the species in the US (Kaplan, J. and G. Hanisek. 2012. Seventeenth Report of the Avian Records Committee of Connecticut. The Connecticut Warbler 32: 33-50. North America's first documented Graylag Goose record was via a hunter shot specimen from New Brunswick, Canada in 2007 (Continental North America's First Greylag Goose Specimen. Wilson, J. G., D. F. McAlpine, and D. X. Soto. 2020. North American Birds, 71 (2): 38-41.

Technical information

Dimensions

668 pixels x 563 pixels

Original file size

313.35 KB