Visiting geese from the high Artic

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Greater White-fronted Geese that winter in and around Colorado breed in far north Arctic areas. Every year a small flock spends the winter in the Canon City area. This flock is composed of 11 birds, including 2 juveniles.

It is reported in Birds of North America online that families remain cohesive during the winter and that this species maintains family bonds "over number of years and persist longer than in other geese." So it seems likely that the Canon flock is related.


The bottom pic shows one of the juveniles near an adult showing clearly some of the differences in plumage, with the lack of white behind the bill the most obvious. SeEtta

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