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MLBob Furia

MLBob Furia

Well-known member
Got to looking at the two geese I killed on the last day of the Indiana river-zone season Wednesday. My sons and I had taken quite a few Maximas in Ohio over the weekend which is what we commonly see in the SW Ohio/tristate area, but Wednesdays birds were definitely not Maximas. Smaller bodies (7-8 lb. range I'd guess - didn't weigh them) - but with a normal sized bill (not stubby like a Richardsons or Cackler). Definitely smaller feet than the big-uns.

Although it may not mean anything, they also had far less fat on them when I breasted them out - so maybe not residents or short-hoppers. All the Maximas we had taken earlier had thick layers of yellow fat when cleaned and had been taken in corn fields. These two came in separate from the big flocks I saw all afternoon and came as a pair.

Picture attached ... whaddya think?? Atlantic?... Interior?

INfinale 063 (600 x 399).jpg
 
I saw your post over on MLB...nice job by the way. The first thing that popped into my head was "interiors". They have the right color on their backs but that is FAR from definitive based on that photo. It's kinda hard to get scale but I'd have to lean towards interiors. It makes perfectly good sense.
 
Other than Atlantics I suppose, the only other thing I think they'd be are maxima young of the year. Once again, the photo makes it hard to judge but the coloration and size says interior to me. And of course, interiors and maximas have been intergrading quite readily for a decade or so.
 
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it's interesting that you mention the fat. I cleaned lots of geese this season and one thing I did notice was that many of the birds had little fat on them. I believe this can be explained by the fact they were still eating grass 10 days ago. The interiors and returning molt migrant maximas tend to stay on the "green" longer than the locals who are lazy pigs. The grass just doesn't seem to fatten them up nearly as quick. I feel sorry for those lean birds tonight. They should be a in great shape to handle this cold but without the fat to get them through they'll have to get out of this snow so they can find the corn.

If they were interiors it would make sense that they didn't have much fat. After burning off some during migration they pretty much clipped fescue for the last 90 days.
 
Bob,
I'd go with Interior's also. The size and location fits. As fo lack of fat, maybe coming off some short migration, poor feed conditions wherever they've been last few days. Who knows. Perhaps some wayward Lessers?
I saw a true Maximus way over here a few years ago, just didn't bring it down. Biologist would call that a vagrant?
 
Bob,
We harvested a few of these type birds the last couple of days on the Fennville farm unit here in Michigan. Several had rust colored feathering on the underbelly as with a merganser. These birds weighed in a 7-8 pounds the shull measurements were noticable smaller than the max-birds. I would concur with you on the interior species.
Regards,
Chuck
 
Sounds like interior (B.c. interior) which are generally 5.7-12 pounds and have a culmen of 41-63 mm (all measures are ranges including males and females). The other possibility would be lessers, (B.c. parvipes), but they tend to be smaller, with masses of 4.3-7.9 pounds, and a culmen of 33-47mm).

Clint
 
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