26 Mar 2008
Farmington Bay
Davis County
Kris Purdy sent in this picture taken by Diana and
Jon LeVasseur:
"Here's the image of the albino Canada Goose
that Diana and Jon LeVasseur of
Evanston, Wyoming photographed at
Farmington Bay on Friday, March 7. David Jensen confirmed that this
is the goose that he and other members of Great Salt Lake Audubon saw
today..."
Kris
E-mails from David Jensen (26 Mar 2008):
(first email) ...Sighting of
a very probably partial albino Canada Goose - its entire neck and part of
its head were pure white. I'm 90% sure that's what it was, and not a
barnyard goose - the rest of it looked exactly like a Canada...
(second email)
Kristin Purdy just sent me a photo of a "weird" goose
she'd seen at Farmington a couple of weeks ago. It's the same albino
Canada Goose seen today. The photo is better than the scope view. If I was
smarter I'd forward it along to everyone. Anyway, it was nice to get
confirmation.
David Jensen
E-mail from Bryant Olsen (26 Mar 2008):
I think I saw the same bird being called a partial albino Canada Goose a
fews weeks ago at Farmington bay,
See my photo of it here
www.flickr.com/photos/bryanto/2295476720/. However, I think it
is a probable hybrid with a domestic goose because it had yellow feet, not
visible in my photo unfortunetly, and pink in the bill, but who knows. I
have seen many strange looking Canada x Domestic hybrids around in parks
and on the Jordan river, so when ever I see a abnormal goose, I just
assume its a hybrid, but I guess a partial albino is possible. Last summer
we had a partial albino Brewers Blackbird at the Tracy Aviary, were I
work.
Good Birding
Bryant Olsen
SLC,UT
E-mail from J. Harry Krueger (26 Mar 2008):
Many birds that are identified as "partial albino" are actually more
correctly "partially leucistic." This is a trait that is not uncommon
(relatively) in Canada Goose (*Branta canadensis*). Just yesterday I
photographed a goose close to Boise, ID that demonstrates the partial
leucistic trait well:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jhkrueger
J. Harry Krueger
Boise, ID
(Here's a link to a BirdForum discussion about
leucism vs.
albinism for those interested).
Photo by Diana and Jon LeVasseur
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