Indians dwelling along the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay say that a small bird, one of the Fringillidae, performs its northward migration in spring on the back of the Canada goose. These geese reach Hudson Bay about the last of April, and the Indians state that when they are fired at little birds are seen […]
Category: Anseriformes
Identification the Eurasian white Swans
Plate from RSPB site.
Bird stories, Black Swan (Cygnus arta)
On January 6, 1697, the famous Dutch navigator Willem de Vlaming, visiting the southwestern coast of Australia, sent two boats ashore to explore the present harbor of Perth. “There their crews first saw two and then more black swans, of which they caught four, taking two of them alive to Batavia; and Valentyne, who several […]
Bird stories, Bean Goose (Anser fabalis)
Gabriel hounds in Scandinavia are the bean geese calling to one another in their nocturnal journeys having a singular resemblance to the yelping of beagles. The story is that Gabriel, obliged to follow this airborne pack, is said to be human-headed, high in the dark air, as a punishment for having once hunted on Sunday. […]
Bird stories, the Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)
So called from the old legend which declared this bird to be produced from trees, resembling willows, which grew in the Orkney Isles ; it being also believed that each end of the branch produced small round balls, which, when ripe, dropped into the sea, and then appeared as a perfect goose. There is a […]
Male achromatic wing colouration is related to body condition and female reproductive investment in a dichromatic species, the upland goose
Upland Goose (Chloephaga picta) Science Article 1 abstract In many bird species, achromatic plumage patch size can serve as a male status signal, but the use of variations in the achromatic colours themselves as a quality signal has only recently come into focus. In our study, we sought to determine whether achromatic plumage reflects individual […]
Lesser White-fronted Goose expedition to Eastern Syria, February 2007
Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) Science Article 3 abstract The expedition was carried out on 9-11 February 2007, as planned in earlier correspondence with the team working on the protection of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus as well as Syrian and regional ornithologists. Participants included Anssi Kullberg currently working for the Finnish Embassy in Damascus […]
Site fidelity of Icelandic Greylag Geese between winters
Greylag Goose (Anser anser) Science Article 9 abstract Britain supports almost the entire Icelandic population of Greylag Geese Anser anser in winter and has a special responsibility for the conservation of these birds. To facilitate the successful management of this population, the aim of this analysis was to ascertain the degree of site fidelity on […]
The timing of pair formation in harlequin ducks
Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) Science Article 1 abstract The timing of pair formation varies within and among species of ducks. In this study we documented the chronology of pair formation in a population of wintering Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) in southwestern British Columbia. Harlequin Ducks began forming pair bonds in October and over half of […]
Exploitation of a new staging area in the Dutch Wadden Sea by Greylag Geese Anser anser: The importance of food-plant dynamics.
Greylag Goose (Anser anser) Science Article 8 abstract The colonisation by Greylag Geese Anser anser of a new autumn migration staging area was studied on the island of Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands. Over 500 Greylag Geese first visited the island in 1991. During subsequent years, peak numbers rose to 700-900 birds. The geese most likely originated […]