In a message dated 7/25/04 3:53:17 PM,  writes:


>
> Here's what the AOU 45th supplement says about this Canada Goose split:
>
>

I have a couple of coments about the Cackling Goose split.

1)   I'm glad to see that someone else has Palmer's volumes as they are
invaluable.
2)   I believe that it is the minima (dark breasted) subspecies that is
commonly kept in captivity and that no banded minima have ever been recovered east
of the Mississippi.   Mary Gustafson can correct me if I disremember those
facts.
3)   If color, size and bill shape are not enough to convince you that the
bird you are looking at is a "Richardson's" Cackling Goose, and not one of the
intermediate-sized Canada Geese, then just look at the head shape.   To me, one
of the most prominent characters of this newly split species is the angular
head.   It is flat on the top with sharp breaks above the forehead and into the
nape, so it looks almost square.   The smaller Canada Geese would have
typically rounded heads.

Paul J. O'Brien
Rockville, Mont. Co., MD