ML50224951

Age and sex

Juvenile, Unknown sex - X

Observation details

After extensive research since my original post, I have concluded that at least 5, of these 6, GWFG are "Greenland" (subspecies flavirostris). Personal communications with several people in Europe with experience with this subspecies indicate that these birds look consistent with flavirostris, though those individuals have no experience, by contrast, with North America's ssp. gambelli. Recent personal communications with Sebastien Reeber, who has extensive experience with both subspecies, supports the ID as flavirostris, to wit: Comments from Sebastien Reeber, Author, Waterfowl of North America, Europe, and Asia: An Identification Guide (https://www.amazon.com/Waterfowl-North-America-Europe-Asia/dp/0691162662/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488578378&sr=8-1&keywords=reeber+waterfowl) (Personal communication, March 1, 2017): "I took a look at your pics of those white-fronted geese. Hereafter are a few comments on the different features. . . In the definition proposed by Banks, gambelli encompasses all continental birds of north America, leaving sponsa and elgasi along the Pacific coast, and flavirostris in Greenland. gambelli is thus used to designate both tundra and taiga breeders, the former being much like sponsa, a bit bigger, and on average more orange-billed. To my end, I never managed to come across what was called 'true gambelli', that is to say mid-continent taiga whitefronts, said to be close in appearance to flavirostris. They (sic) are three adults and three 1st winter birds here. - overall shape : Overall, these geese look bulky, heavy-billed and rather thick-necked to me, with a big large head, all good for flavirostris, even if their neck might appear quite long and gracefully curved in alert posture in some photos... I find the head often a bit more angular in flavirostris than here, especially with a more prominent and squared hindcrown. - the overall plumage looks tinged brown and rather dark, ok for flavirostris, even if the head looks quite pale on the photos, with a well contrasting eye and black line along the white mask. . . - upperparts and flank feathers fringes : they look pale brown and rather inconspicuous, even on the tertials, which is good for flavirostris. - bill shape : it looks rather thick with an almost straight culmen, which looks good to me for flavirostris. Many gambelli have a thinner bill, more "teat-shaped" at tip. - bill colour : the bills are orange, more yellow at base, which is also good for flavirostris. One adult has a distinctly more pinkish hue to the bill though... I'd say it is not off-limits for flavirostris. - black patches on the underparts : It's variable in all taxa, but these patches are more prominent in flavirostris than in gambelli (on average more marked in male than in females, and in older birds). At least the two orange-billed adults have a normal amount of black for flavirostris (the black could be much more extended though), but the third one is more typical of gambelli. Nothing allowing to clinch the subpecific ID though ! - dark smudges on the belly (behind the legs) : In many flavirostris, the dark belly extends rearwards in dark smudges, often well visible behind the legs. This area is usually white in gambelli. At least one orange-billed adult seems to show such smudges (right bird on the picture 4, left bird on the photo 5, right bird on the photo 6), but the pink-billed bird apparently doesn't (left bird on photo 4, right bird on the photo 5, middle bird in the photo 6). So my guess is that at least 2 adults and the young birds wouldn't raise many questions in Ireland, the third adult being a bit more on the gambelli side, with its pink hue to the bill, few black marks on the underparts and apparently no dark smudges on the belly behind the legs.”

Technical information

Model

DMC-G5

Lens

LUMIX G VARIO 45-200/F4.0-5.6

ISO

400

Focal length

200 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/22.0

Shutter speed

1/160 sec

Dimensions

2637 pixels x 1884 pixels

Original file size

5.45 MB