[birding] Red-breasted Goose origins

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

First let me say that the Red-breasted Goose being seen is a stunning
bird, acts wild, and is probably worth a look in any case. This may be
the closest you will ever come to seeing an indisputably wild Red-
breasted Goose, unless you are of sufficient means to travel on a
birding expedition to central Siberia.

However, having been Willamette basin field notes compiler for /Oregon
Birds/ during the time when (presumably) this goose was first seen
wandering our local grass fields, I feel that I should share what facts
& hearsay I can remember.

That year, a Red-breasted Goose was initially reported near McMinnville,
then at several points successively farther south, over the period of a
couple of weeks, until it wound up at Finley NWR and was associating
with a flock of cacklers. 

Coincidentally, McMinnville is where an exotic-waterfowl breeder has had
a flock of 20 or more unpinioned Red-breasted Geese. An acquaintance of
that breeder (first name Chris, I forget his last name now) informed
Portland birder Khanh Tran that the breeder had lost one of his Red-
breasted Geese. Khanh reported this on the OBOL list-serv.

One of the members of the Oregon Bird Records Committee took the step of
contacting the breeder, and according to his report, the breeder denied
having lost a goose.

All vagrancy theories aside, we are basically left to choose between the
report of the one person who said the breeder had lost a goose, and the
reported denial by the breeder. 

As an aside, having raised exotic gamebirds in Minnesota in my youth,
and having gotten to know a bit of that trade, I can think of several
reasons why a breeder might deny having lost even a valuable bird. It
doesn't look good, and it can bring unwanted attention from the people
who regulate this trade.

I cannot think of any obvious motive for someone falsely reporting that
a breeder had lost a goose. Of course we have no way of knowing all of
the personal circumstances, but at least outwardly this makes no sense
to me. I have heard some dog-in-the-manger theories based on experiences
elsewhere but can't see how those hold water in this case. It is far
easier for me to imagine why a breeder might want to avoid scrutiny of
his pens.

Since that time, one Red-breasted Goose has been reported each year in
the Willamette Valley. Not two, not three, not zero, but always one bird
that keeps showing up at Finley. If there were a natural vagrancy
pattern, why no variability in the number seen per season?

Personally I cannot see any reason to assume that this is anything other
than a captive Red-breasted Goose that escaped, gradually built up its
wing muscles after captivity, joined up with a flock of cacklers, and
began to migrate with them. 

I am curious how this bird spends its summers -- could it be paired with
one of the cacklers? That might be something interesting to watch. If
you are not too worried about whether or not the goose is "countable,"
this could be a fascinating study in how a (presumed) once-captive goose
takes up association with a distantly related species.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis