Ross’ Goose (Chen Rossii) Sighted in Colbert County

Published in 1989

On 22 February 1988, at approximately 1500 CST, as I was driving along River Road east ofthe Shoals area I noticed two geese on a pond about eightkm east of Highway 133. My initial impression was that both birds were Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens), one white and one blue , morpho I stopped and began studying them with a Baush and Lomb Discoverer at a distance of about 30 meters in good light. While looking at the white bird, I immediately noticed a small blue patch at the base of its bill and absence of a dark grin patch, the latter being characteristic of Snow Geese. These are distinct features of the Ross’ Goose (Chen Rassil), a species with on1y one previously confirmed record in Alabama.


Author: Damien J. Simbeck
Volume Number: 36 Year Published: 1989
Issue Number: 1
Page Number: 2

Link to article: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1989/Vol 36 No. 1_1989_p2-3.pdf
Link to the full issue of BirdLife: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1989/Vol 36 No. 1_1989.pdf