{"id":62573,"date":"2020-01-10T05:59:01","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T12:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62573"},"modified":"2024-02-13T14:51:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T21:51:04","slug":"canada-goose-with-white-plumage-on-its-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/10\/canada-goose-with-white-plumage-on-its-head\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada Goose With White Plumage On Its Head"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CanadaCanada Goose with white plumage on its head – view of the left side \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday the sun broke through the heavy clouds for a bit and I went down to the local ponds to see what birds I could find to photograph and while there weren’t that many that were close enough to take high quality images of I did find an unusual Canada Goose.<\/p>\n

The Canada Goose was unusual because it had spotted, white plumage on its head and I was able to take photos of both left and right profile views of its head.<\/p>\n

\"CanadaCanada Goose with white plumage on its head – view of the right side \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canada Goose looks normal in every respect except for the white spots on its head which are simply white plumage where normally it is darker. I am not certain whether to call the white spots leucism or just a plumage variation because Canada Geese can and do have white on their foreheads at times, especially in the larger subspecies, but generally the white is more like a narrow band across the forehead rather than the spots this goose exhibits. I lean more towards plumage variation than leucism though.<\/p>\n

\"Sibley

Sibley Guide To Birds – Second Edition – Canada Geese variants<\/p><\/div>\n

Whether the white spots are leucism or just a plumage variation I thought this Canada Goose was interesting to see and photograph.<\/p>\n

I have photographed other individual Canada Geese that have white speckled plumage on their necks, I may share some of those in the future.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Canada Geese photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Canada Goose was unusual because it had spotted, white plumage on its head and I was able to take photos of both left and right profile views of its head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,28,709,26],"tags":[32,4343,713,4775,6306,3456,3455,8277,1984,3973,8278,8018,30,3996,2063,8276,373],"class_list":["post-62573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-canada-geese","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-branta-canadensis","tag-canada-goose","tag-geese","tag-goose","tag-head","tag-leucism","tag-leucistic","tag-plumage-variation","tag-pond","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-spots","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-white-plumage","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/canada-goose-white-spots-on-head-mia-mcpherson-1472-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ghf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":78340,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/26\/leucistic-canada-goose\/","url_meta":{"origin":62573,"position":0},"title":"Leucistic Canada Goose","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't see any American Robins feeding on crabapples yesterday but I did find a leucistic Canada Goose at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Leucistic Canada Goose with regular geese, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-leucistic-head-mia-mcpherson-0684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-leucistic-head-mia-mcpherson-0684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-leucistic-head-mia-mcpherson-0684.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-hybrid-mia-mcpherson-5010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-hybrid-mia-mcpherson-5010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-hybrid-mia-mcpherson-5010.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-hybrid-mia-mcpherson-5010.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108231,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/25\/variant-canada-goose-with-a-white-forehead\/","url_meta":{"origin":62573,"position":2},"title":"Variant Canada Goose With A White Forehead","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, while photographing birds at my neighborhood pond, I came upon an uncommon Canada Goose with a white forehead and an oddly shaped cheek patch.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Canada Goose variant with a white forehead, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/canada-goose-variant-white-forhead-mia-mcpherson-4624.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/canada-goose-variant-white-forhead-mia-mcpherson-4624.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/canada-goose-variant-white-forhead-mia-mcpherson-4624.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Because they are very common in most North America Canada Geese are often overlooked as subjects by some bird photographers.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Canada Goose and mate, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-geese-mia-mcpherson-3066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-geese-mia-mcpherson-3066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-geese-mia-mcpherson-3066.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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