ML611687564

Behaketaren xehetasunak

Continuing along shore south of the parking lot, first found by Carol Molander’s bird walk. This bird has been very well documented, so I’m just adding observations that stood out to me. Some white flecks are breaking through around the forehead and eyes. Dark cap blends well with the auriculars but forms a well-defined wedge down the nape. The feathering around the throat is quite messy and waterlogged, but this is the precise spot where BRAN have their neck ring and where SNGO have groovy pleats. It will be interesting to see how this area develops in adulthood. The greater secondary coverts have white tips that fade into a silvery dusting, which curiously is only found on the proximal side of the median secondary coverts. The bill is nicely intermediate. Most of the maxillary tomia are visible, like SNGO but not as extreme. Notably there are many back-facing papillae lining the palate. Domestic geese (Anser) have similar bumpy projections, but I don’t know which parent might have more influence on this feature. The bill has a SNGO-like groove under the nares, but there is no sign of any striation on the smooth bill sheath. Vocalizations are very quiet and can be hard to pick out from the BRAN cacophony. See video for single notes and audio for chuckling series. These are tonally similar to the BRAN contact calls that are also audible in the recordings, but the hybrid seems vaguely higher pitched, with inflections peaking just above 1kHz. After foraging off the beach the hybrid walked up the rocks to drink from a puddle - and defended it aggressively. The gaggle of juv BRAN that tagged along didn’t seem to put up a fight, just squabbled among themselves. Per their respective life histories BRAN are probably more anatomically adapted to saltwater than SNGO, though the latter do readily associate with saline environments. Did the hybrid’s SNGO parentage make it more prone to thirst? Indeed it hogged the puddle and chugged a barrel of it. After finally getting their turn the BRAN only took a little sip each. All the geese went straight back to feasting on sea lettuce and did not come up to the lawn. Also I was *this* close to catching it mid-poop, twice! Alas