A rare goose, which appears to be a hybrid between a Canada goose and a white-fronted goose, has been spotted at 100 Mile Marsh.
Chris Nickless, a photographer and bird-watching enthusiast, photographed the aquatic bird at the marsh on May 15 after hearing about it from well-known local birder Tom Godin.
While Canada geese are commonly seen in the region, Nickless says white-fronted geese are only occasional visitors, and hybrids are quite rare.
“It looks like none of the Canada geese will have anything to do with it.”
He found only a few photos on the Internet of similar hybrids in Eastern Canada, but none in the West, Nickless adds.
This cross-bred goose has the white-fronted’s orange feet and orange bill (although also speckled with black), while Canada geese have black feet and bills.
The hybrid also has more white feathers on the rump, but fewer on the face than the Canada goose. It also lacks its distinctive wide, white face stripe.
Godin frequently leads tours and lectures for bird watching groups, and has extensive knowledge of many birds spotted in the South Cariboo, but says he has never seen this hybrid, here or anywhere else.
His copy of The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America references these geese as having hybridized, but only occasionally, Godin adds.
“It would be hit or miss – so they couldn’t tell you where it might happen, or how often you would see them – but it does happen.”
However, he explains the different breeds would have to “break through a few barriers” to mate because each bird has its own courtship ritual that keeps them apart during mating season.
This goose is probably a male, Godin says, since the other birds are shunning it.
“If there is any kind of problem with a male – if he doesn’t look right to a female of the same species – it’s the female who usually rejects the male. Males are not quite as picky.”
This odd goose also has less white on its breast than the Canada goose, but Godin noted the white-fronted goose’s name refers to the white on its face above the bill, not on its body.
Nickless adds the white-fronted sometimes stops in the South Cariboo, but migrates to the Arctic much earlier in the year, so this sole bird has no fellow waterfowl in that breed nearby, either.
“The Canada geese would swim away from the hybrid any time I saw it. So, he is kind of lonely.”
