Post by Woody Williams on Nov 9, 2005 5:56:48 GMT -5
PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2005.11.05
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A1 / Front
BYLINE: Hanneke Brooymans
SOURCE: The Edmonton Journal
DATELINE: EDMONTON
--------------------------------------------------------------
Geese of a feather don't always stick together: Hunters accidentally
kill suspected hybrids
---------------------------------------------------------------
EDMONTON -- "What the -- ?"
That was the reaction from American hunters and a Ducks Unlimited
biologist when two strange geese fell out of the sky in central
Saskatchewan.
The Oklahoma hunters shot them recently as a flock of Canada geese flew
over, but didn't notice the strange colouration of the birds until they
were on the ground.
They immediately brought the geese over to Chuck Deschamps, a biologist
for Ducks Unlimited in east-central Saskatchewan's Wadena area.
"At first I thought they had shot something they weren't supposed to,"
Deschamps said. "Then I took a closer look and saw it looked half snow
goose and half Canada goose."
The geese were covered in greyish feathers, instead of the distinctive
markings of the Canada goose.
They still had a faint version of the bold white cheek patch borne by
the Canada goose, but the bill was more like that of a snow goose.
Snow geese have a variation called a blue goose, which also has dark
plumage. But Deschamps' 14 years of field experience quickly ruled that
out. He suggested instead it might be a version of a fabled "Quill Lakes
goose."
Other American hunters once approached him and asked him where they
could find these geese. To them, it seemed logical, since the Quill
Lakes are close to Wadena.
But Deschamps had to tell them he had never heard of such a bird. Later,
they sent him a newspaper clipping from a Minnesota newspaper which
discussed the Quill Lakes goose, explaining that down in the States it
was thought to be a hybrid between the Canada goose and the snow goose.
The more recently bagged geese made headlines in The Wadena News.
They also raised a question. Is it possible the abundance of snow geese
has increased the frequency of hybridization?
Biologists with the Canadian Wildlife Service say this is possible.
Jim Leafloor has spent 15 years studying snow geese at their Arctic nesting
grounds. Snow geese do breed successfully with other geese, but it is very
rare, Leafloor said.
Usually, odd-looking geese are just colour variants, he said. He has
seen Canada geese with all-white heads or white neck rings or white
foreheads.
"They're just oddities."
But the hybrids do exist. Ten years ago, Leafloor said he shot two blue
goose-Canada goose hybrids in Saskatchewan. Dave Ealey, a spokesman with
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, reported a probable
Canada-snow goose hybrid in the Beaverhill Lake area in 1979.
Why the two species decide to mix is a mystery. Perhaps, as Robert
Service once wrote, "There are strange things done in the midnight sun."
Leafloor said he has seen snow geese drop their eggs in Canada goose
nests up at the Arctic breeding grounds. He doesn't know if they do it
by mistake.
But geese will imprint on the first creature they see when they hatch.
So if that's a Canada goose, the snow goose will grow up thinking it's a
Canada goose and choose a Canada goose for a mate, Leafloor said.
The strange-looking geese do seem to gain some sort of acceptance from
regular-looking geese.
Bryan Baker is one of the Oklahoma hunters that shot the hybrids about a
month ago.
"The flock they came out of was definitely all Canada geese," said the
33-year-old hunter now back in his home town of Miami, Oklahoma.
"I'm a little concerned," said Baker, who has 22 years of hunting
experience. "Everything is interbreeding nowadays."
Still, he was thrilled to bag the rare bird and took it to a
taxidermist.
"This is one in a million, if not one in several million," he said.
There is no proof to the theory, but if the frequency of the hybrids is
related to snow goose numbers, it might be worthwhile taking a closer
look at those migrating V formations.
Snow goose numbers were estimated at 1.5 million in the 1970s.
Ray Alisauskas has been researching snow geese since 1983. Considerable
effort is being spent on coming up with a reliable counting method. The
methods currently under development suggest that there may be 15 to 20
million adult snow geese, said Alisauskas, who is also a Canadian
Wildlife Service biologist.
hbrooymans@thejournal.canwest.com
MOTHER NATURE'S EXPERIMENTS
When it comes to hybrids, Mother Nature's experiments aren't limited to
geese.
Biologists have found crosses between Swainson's hawks and rough-legged
hawks, said Gordon Court, provincial resource assessment specialist for
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.
In Edmonton, the love child creations of crow and magpie pairs are seen
flying around.
In southern Alberta, there have been hybrids of sage grouse and
sharp-tailed grouse, which are both rare birds.
DATE: 2005.11.05
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A1 / Front
BYLINE: Hanneke Brooymans
SOURCE: The Edmonton Journal
DATELINE: EDMONTON
--------------------------------------------------------------
Geese of a feather don't always stick together: Hunters accidentally
kill suspected hybrids
---------------------------------------------------------------
EDMONTON -- "What the -- ?"
That was the reaction from American hunters and a Ducks Unlimited
biologist when two strange geese fell out of the sky in central
Saskatchewan.
The Oklahoma hunters shot them recently as a flock of Canada geese flew
over, but didn't notice the strange colouration of the birds until they
were on the ground.
They immediately brought the geese over to Chuck Deschamps, a biologist
for Ducks Unlimited in east-central Saskatchewan's Wadena area.
"At first I thought they had shot something they weren't supposed to,"
Deschamps said. "Then I took a closer look and saw it looked half snow
goose and half Canada goose."
The geese were covered in greyish feathers, instead of the distinctive
markings of the Canada goose.
They still had a faint version of the bold white cheek patch borne by
the Canada goose, but the bill was more like that of a snow goose.
Snow geese have a variation called a blue goose, which also has dark
plumage. But Deschamps' 14 years of field experience quickly ruled that
out. He suggested instead it might be a version of a fabled "Quill Lakes
goose."
Other American hunters once approached him and asked him where they
could find these geese. To them, it seemed logical, since the Quill
Lakes are close to Wadena.
But Deschamps had to tell them he had never heard of such a bird. Later,
they sent him a newspaper clipping from a Minnesota newspaper which
discussed the Quill Lakes goose, explaining that down in the States it
was thought to be a hybrid between the Canada goose and the snow goose.
The more recently bagged geese made headlines in The Wadena News.
They also raised a question. Is it possible the abundance of snow geese
has increased the frequency of hybridization?
Biologists with the Canadian Wildlife Service say this is possible.
Jim Leafloor has spent 15 years studying snow geese at their Arctic nesting
grounds. Snow geese do breed successfully with other geese, but it is very
rare, Leafloor said.
Usually, odd-looking geese are just colour variants, he said. He has
seen Canada geese with all-white heads or white neck rings or white
foreheads.
"They're just oddities."
But the hybrids do exist. Ten years ago, Leafloor said he shot two blue
goose-Canada goose hybrids in Saskatchewan. Dave Ealey, a spokesman with
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, reported a probable
Canada-snow goose hybrid in the Beaverhill Lake area in 1979.
Why the two species decide to mix is a mystery. Perhaps, as Robert
Service once wrote, "There are strange things done in the midnight sun."
Leafloor said he has seen snow geese drop their eggs in Canada goose
nests up at the Arctic breeding grounds. He doesn't know if they do it
by mistake.
But geese will imprint on the first creature they see when they hatch.
So if that's a Canada goose, the snow goose will grow up thinking it's a
Canada goose and choose a Canada goose for a mate, Leafloor said.
The strange-looking geese do seem to gain some sort of acceptance from
regular-looking geese.
Bryan Baker is one of the Oklahoma hunters that shot the hybrids about a
month ago.
"The flock they came out of was definitely all Canada geese," said the
33-year-old hunter now back in his home town of Miami, Oklahoma.
"I'm a little concerned," said Baker, who has 22 years of hunting
experience. "Everything is interbreeding nowadays."
Still, he was thrilled to bag the rare bird and took it to a
taxidermist.
"This is one in a million, if not one in several million," he said.
There is no proof to the theory, but if the frequency of the hybrids is
related to snow goose numbers, it might be worthwhile taking a closer
look at those migrating V formations.
Snow goose numbers were estimated at 1.5 million in the 1970s.
Ray Alisauskas has been researching snow geese since 1983. Considerable
effort is being spent on coming up with a reliable counting method. The
methods currently under development suggest that there may be 15 to 20
million adult snow geese, said Alisauskas, who is also a Canadian
Wildlife Service biologist.
hbrooymans@thejournal.canwest.com
MOTHER NATURE'S EXPERIMENTS
When it comes to hybrids, Mother Nature's experiments aren't limited to
geese.
Biologists have found crosses between Swainson's hawks and rough-legged
hawks, said Gordon Court, provincial resource assessment specialist for
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.
In Edmonton, the love child creations of crow and magpie pairs are seen
flying around.
In southern Alberta, there have been hybrids of sage grouse and
sharp-tailed grouse, which are both rare birds.
