Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Ross's Goose

This small goose with a small bill, round head, and clean white coloring is typical of Ross's Goose.
Small numbers tend to be mixed with Snow Geese as well as Canada Geese.  There is also a rare dark morph.

A breeder of the low Arctic tundra, in ponds and marshes, Ross's Goose will nest in colonies with the lesser Snow Goose, nesting upon the ground in sparsely vegetated areas.  Often mistakenly identified as a Snow Goose, this species does not have the usual "grin patch."  They do have a higher pitched call.

Ross's Goose

Boomer Lake Park, 2018

                                                           
                                               

Usually the first to leave the breeding grounds, this bird will winter in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, and in small parts of Mexico in ag fields, fresh water marshes, and shallow lakes.

Confirmed as recently as 1971, there is a very rare blue form of this species.  Additionally, Ross's Goose will hybridize with the Snow Goose to create fertile offspring.

blue morph Ross's Goose

Brooke Miller 2015 in CA

The male has warty nodules at the base of its bill, believed to raise its status within the species.  The female has very few of these, along with a flatter forehead, a shorter neck and is noticeably smaller.

This goose was named after Bernard Ross of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Canadian Northwest Territories.  More of a naturalist than a fur trader, Ross created collections of mammals, birds, and insects, which he forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the British Museum in London.


More Photos of Ross's Goose:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-bar-gets-raised-one-notch.html

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2017/02/and-then-there-was-distinction.html

Oklahoma Vagrants: Anna's Hummingbird

Larger than many hummingbirds, Anna's males' red throat and crown (and female's red central throat patch) are good distinguishing characteristics.  Not seen in many places, this is the most common hummingbird within oak/chapparal habitat of the Pacific coast and it is native.

Range expansion is sending this delightful bird north to British Columbia, where it is becoming common.  As a medium sized hummingbird, the broad tail extends beyond the wingtips while seated, and the bill is short and straight.

As collectors of nectar, these hummingbirds are excellent pollinators of an assortment of plants, most notably tubular flowers.  Early in the twentieth century, this bird was only found in Baja California as well as California.   Exotic plants brought it north, and due to range expansion for the simplest of reasons, it was found to do well in other climates and take nectar from introduced species of plants..

Found in 2010 in Oklahoma at both a private residence in Cherokee County, as well as proven at another residence in the fall in Comanche County, these are the only two instances known on eBird.

                                                           Male Anna's Hummingbird
                                                               Pima County, AZ 2018

Anna's frequently hybridizes with Costa's Hummingbird.  In the 1860s or thereabouts in Mexico, a hybrid was located in Mexico and was named Floresi's Hummingbird.  After a number of years, this extremely rare bird was discovered in California and was learned to be a hybrid of Anna's and Allen's Hummingbirds.  Nearly three decades later, also in California, the rare Violet-throated Hummingbird was noted as a mix between the Black-chinned Hummingbird and Anna's. Perhaps there will be more to add to this saga at a later date.

The Anna's is believed to consume more insects than any other hummingbird, which most likely adds something to its strong constitution, especially during the winter.  It can stay in some areas that no other hummingbirds will go during that season.  This fact could also lend to why this bird is so far reaching in hybridization for survival and its sometimes unlikely appearances in other climate zones.