8 April 2025
I try very hard not to be gullible but sometimes I get taken in. Yesterday was a lesson in Do Not Believe Everything You See On The Internet even if you trust the source. I’m bringing this up today so you, too, can learn the truth.
Yesterday I saw an incredible photo of a very tiny goose from Wild Bird Fund, a trusted wildlife rehab agency in New York City and I believed it. Wrong! It was posted on April Fool’s Day. Duh!
The good news is that in looking up dwarf geese I learned that poor nutrition in the gosling phase can stunk the growth of a young Canada goose who then never reaches full size. Here’s the corrected news.
Now, what about that half-sized goose in the photo at top? Is it a dwarf? No. It’s a different species!
The Cackling Goose was long considered a group of smaller subspecies of the Canada Goose. In 2004, the smallest 4 of the 11 recognized Canada Goose subspecies were split out as the Cackling Goose. Canada and Cackling Geese hybridize in several locations, which can further complicate identification in the field.
— All About Birds: Description of Cackling goose
Cackling geese (Branta hutchinsii) are about the size of mallards, have stubby bills, steeper foreheads and shorter necks. They are a Rare Bird in Pittsburgh though quite common in winter in New Jersey, the Great Plains and California’s Central Valley.
The Hawaiian Nene actually is a relative of the Canada goose.. the Nene is smaller and of slightly different colour, but very similar in shape. It is a sub species thought to be from Canada geese who were blown far off course 40,000 years ago.