Red-headed Snow Goose?

[Bill Dix]

D90; 80-400 VR @ 360mm. ISO 400, f/8 @ 1/2500s. Matrix metering @ -1.3 EV. Aperture priority, AF-A. HH. 30% crop.

I know there are issues with the image: poor wing position on rear bird, front bird getting away from me, no good HA, etc. But I'm curious about the front goose, with the reddish head. Is this typical of Snow Geese? I have another image of a large flock, where perhaps 3 out of one hundred show that coloration, but Sibley doesn't show it. I thought perhaps Juvenile, and here that might be the case, due to the gradation of color on the underwings; but in the other shot one of the birds with the red had distinct contrast between the white wings and black wing tips as in the middle bird here, suggesting adult. Anybody know their Snow Geese? Would appreciate comment.

[Anita Rakestraw]

Peterson's Field Guide says "head often rust-stained from feeding in muddy or iron-rich waters" and some of the pictures show a little of that color around the beaks on some of them - not nearly as much as in your image, though. Will be interesting to see what more knowledgeable folks say. Nice comp and the exposure looks good to me.

[Bill Dix]

Peterson's Field Guide says "head often rust-stained from feeding in muddy or iron-rich waters" and some of the pictures show a little of that color around the beaks on some of them - not nearly as much as in your image, though. Will be interesting to see what more knowledgeable folks say. Nice comp and the exposure looks good to me.

Thank you Anita. I've gotten so used to Sibley as my standard that I often forget to go back and look at Peterson. This sounds like the answer I was looking for, and a useful reminder to use ALL of my resources. Thanks.

[Jared Lloyd]

Anita and Peterson have it dead on. We have hundreds of thousands of these birds that over winter here in coastal North Carolina. Our ground water is heavy with iron and thus the reddish coloration is quite common especially on the barrier islands like the Outer Banks.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

It's hard to have prefect wing position on multiple birds in one frame, you manage to get two out of three which is really good. I like how the one with red head is separate from the other two, look like an outcast to me :D

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Bill,
I like the flight formation, with the clear blue sky...agree with the techs. and the good advise given...looking forward to the next one...:cool:

[Alfred Forns]

Agree on with Anita on the goose !!! Sure wish you could have gotten a tight flight image of just him !!!

[Katie Rupp]

Hi Bill, I'm glad you posted this one as it gave us an opportunity to learn a bit more about this species...always so much interesting stuff discover.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all for the comments. Especially Anita and Jared for educating me on the goose coloration. Another example of how I keep learning by discovering details captured unintentionally in my images, and with help from knowledgeable folks like you at BPN.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Great Snow Geese info, love the back and forth thanks for sharing the data.