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Subject:

Status of Cackling Goose in Maryland

From:

Phil Davis

Reply-To:

Maryland Birds & Birding

Date:

Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:27:16 -0500

MD Osprey:

Just to make it official, the MD/DC Records Committee (MD/DCRC) has 
reviewed, accepted, and added Cackling Goose to the Official List of Birds 
of Maryland. The formal notification process and updates to the MD/DCRC web 
pages will follow later.

Late this year, we processed a package of eight Cackling Goose reports. Two 
reports were older accounts from Maryland Birdlife (MB) where specimens 
were also collected and deposited in the U.S. National Museum of Natural 
History (the Smithsonian Institution); these specimens were photographed 
and the images were circulated with the written MB accounts. These two 
reports were accepted and the committee found them both to be 
"Richardson's" Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii huschinsii). The remain 
six reports were from 1995 to 2004 and all but one included photographs. Of 
these six, two were accepted (and again found to be "Richardson's"), three 
reports had split votes and will have to be recirculated, and one was not 
accepted as a Cackling Goose (the committee's opinion was that is was a 
small race of Canada Goose vice a Cackling Goose).

Therefore, based on the accepted records, Cackling Goose is added to the 
Official List of the Birds of Maryland. Note that there are no records yet 
for Cackling Goose in DC.

The eight Cackling Goose reports reviewed were:

MD/2004-050 12/27/1964 Eastern Neck, Kent County - Accepted
MD/2004-049 11/16/1966 Cambridge, Dorchester County - Accepted
MD/1997-391 12/29/1995 Cambridge, Dorchester County - Accepted
MD/2004-041 01/11/2002 Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County - Recirculate
MD/2004-044 01/23/2003 Little Seneca Reservoir, Montgomery County - Accepted
MD/2004-046 01/23/2004 Perryville, Cecil County - Recirculate
MD/2004-042 02/26/2004 Columbia, Howard County - Not Accepted
MD/2004-052 03/01-02/2004 Columbia, Howard County - Recirculate


The MD/DCRC annual meeting will be held at the end of February, but a poll 
of the members indicates that Cackling Goose will not be added to the 
Maryland Review List; the species is clearly a regular winter visitor to 
the state. However, Maryland birders should be alert to the presence of any 
subspecies of Cackling Goose other than Richardson's ... any of these other 
species (e.g., B. h. minima) would be reviewable under the category of 
being an "unusual form or subspecies" to the area. This is analogous, for 
example, to the White-crowned Sparrow, where the nominate subspecies 
(Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys) is a non-reviewable regular winter 
visitor; however, the white-lored, orange-billed "Gambel's" subspecies (Z. 
l. gambelii) is a rare winter visitor to MD and as such, this subspecies is 
reviewable. Perfectly clear, eh?

Note: separation of the taverneri subspecies of Cackling Goose and the 
parvipes subspecies of Canada Goose is a difficult (at best), if not 
unresolved, field challenge ... and then there are the geese 
hybrid/intergrades ... yikes!

FYI. Here's a link to David Sibley's web page on Cackling/Canada Goose 
identification ...

         http://www.sibleyguides.com/canada_cackling.htm

Here are a few other on-line Cackling/Canada Goose references ...

         http://www.utahbirds.org/RecCom/NewGoose.htm

         http://my.execpc.com/CE/5F/idzikoj/geese/richter.htm

         http://www.users.fast.net/~becard/index9.html

         http://www.birdinghawaii.co.uk/Annotatedmigrants2.htm#CACKLING%20GOOSE

There is a nice image of a small, dark-breasted minima Cackling Goose here ...

         http://www.idahobirds.net/identification/cackling.html


Happy New Year and good birding!

Phil


===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
===================================================