Lucy’s back

 

How can one distinguish one Canada Goose in a flock of a few hundred? It is easy if that goose is leucistic. 

A leucistic animal is one where some region of its pelage lacks pigment. It is not an albino, which describes a complete lack of pigment throughout the body. For the leucistic animal, the pigment loss is just local. 

A leucistic female Canada Goose has been seen around the Lake for over a half-dozen years, but I last saw it four years ago. As the Canada Goose can live for a couple of dozen years, we may continue to see her for a while longer.

A Canada Goose — nicknamed Lucy for being leucistic — was spotted along the shore among other geese. Her normally whiteish chinstrap is slightly beige, but her leucistic cap lacks all pigment.

 

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3 Responses to Lucy’s back

  1. Christine Boyd says:

    How beautiful to be able to actually identify one particular goose!

  2. Lucy Lopez says:

    I love it tooo
    Long ago I worked at a Giant Canada Goose Bird Sanctuary in the Whiteshell, (Manitoba).
    So it is only fitting that I have a goose namesake..
    Thank you Alistair

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