Hybrid Geese
Geese hybridise readily, in captivity, among feral populations and among wild bird populations. Identifying hybrids is fraught with difficulties. Not only are they highly variable but they do not always simply show a mix of each parent species' features.
Regular visitors to this page will notice far fewer photos than before - it was getting unwieldy so I am now only showing examples of each hybrid here, with links to separate pages that contain more details and more photos of each type of hybrid.
(Greylag Goose x Swan Goose) x Mute Swan
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domestic goose (Greylag Goose x Swan Goose) x Mute Swan, Wool (Dorset, UK), 24th October 2010 |
For lots more photos and a full account of this very unusual bird, see the Swoose page.
Swan Goose x Greylag Goose
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domestic Swan Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Nun's Bridge, Thetford (Norfolk, UK), 19th November 2016 |
Domestic geese are descended from either Greylag Goose or Swan Goose, or both. Technically those that have both species in their ancestry are hybrids, but as it is often impossible to determine either way I have treated all domestic geese together on the domestic goose page.
Swan Goose x Bar-headed Goose
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possible Swan Goose x Bar-headed Goose, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 25th February 2007 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, see the Swan Goose hybrids page.
Swan Goose x Snow Goose
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possible domestic Swan Goose x Snow Goose hybrid, Whitlingham CP (Norfolk, UK), 5th February 2011 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, see the Swan Goose hybrids page.
Swan Goose x Barnacle Goose
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possible Swan Goose x Barnacle Goose, Welney (Norfolk, UK), 28th March 2009 |
For another photo and comment on this bird, see the Swan Goose hybrids page.
Pink-footed Goose x Tundra Bean Goose
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Pink-footed Goose or hybrid Pink-footed Goose x Tundra Bean Goose, between Docking and Brancaster (Norfolk, UK), 17th November 2006 |
For a second photo and and some coment on this possible hybrid, see the Pink-footed Goose page (and scroll down).
Lesser White-fronted Goose x Ross's Goose
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probable Ross's Goose x Lesser White-fronted Goose hybrid, Whitlingham CP (Norfolk, UK), 17th January 2011 |
For lots more photos and comment on this bird, click here.
Lesser White-fronted Goose x Barnacle Goose
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probable Lesser White-fronted Goose x Barnacle Goose, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 27th October 2007 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, click here.
White-fronted Goose x Greylag Goose
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probable White-fronted Goose x Greylag Goose, Stiffkey Fen (Norfolk, UK), 24th November 2013 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, see the White-fronted Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid page.
White-fronted Goose x Bar-headed Goose
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presumed White-fronted Goose x Bar-headed Goose, St James's Park (Greater London, UK), 15th July 2013 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, click here.
White-fronted Goose x Barnacle Goose
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presumed White-fronted Goose x Greylag Goose, Flitcham (Norfolk, UK), 15th January 2004 |
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presumed White-fronted Goose x Greylag Goose, Raynham Lake (Norfolk, UK), 10th February 2012 |
For more photos and comment on these and other birds, click here.
Greylag Goose x Canada Goose
For lots more photos of these and other individuals, click here.
domestic goose x Canada Goose
For more photos of these and other individuals, click here.
Greylag Goose x Barnacle Goose
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presumed Barnacle Goose x Greylag Goose, Holkham Park (Norfolk, UK), 22nd November 2004 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, click here.
Ross's Goose x Emperor Goose
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probable Ross's Goose x Emperor Goose, S of Brancaster Staithe (Norfolk, UK), 30th November 2004 |
This bird was identified at the time as a Ross's Goose x Pink-footed Goose hybrid by many observers but it now seems more likely to have been a Ross's Goose x Emperor Goose.
For lots more photos and comment on this bird, click here.
Ross's Goose x Barnacle Goose
For more photos of these and other individuals, click here.
Snow Goose x Barnacle Goose
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probable Snow Goose x Barnacle Goose hybrid, Buckenham (Norfolk, UK), 1st January 2010 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, click here.
Canada Goose x Barnacle Goose
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Canada Goose x Barnacle Goose (with Barnacle Goose), Hickling Rushill Scrape (Norfolk, UK), 10th August 2009 |
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Canada Goose x Barnacle Goose, Burnham Overy (Norfolk, UK), 5th June 2015 |
For more photos of this bird, click here.
Cackling Goose x Barnacle Goose
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Cackling Goose (probably Richardson's) x Barnacle Goose, between Amner and Shernborne (Norfolk, UK), 12th January 2011 |
For more photos and comment on this bird, click here.
Barnacle Goose x Red-breasted Goose
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presumed Red-breasted Goose x Barnacle Goose, Whitlingham CP (Norfolk, UK), 1st July 2011 |
For more photos of this bird, click here.
Dark-bellied Brent Goose x Red-breasted Goose
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presumed Dark-bellied Brent Goose x Barnacle Goose, Oare Marshes (Kent, UK), 26th December 2012 |
For more photos of this bird, click here.
Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose
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Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Burnham Overy (Norfolk, UK), 9th May 2016 |
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Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Wells (Norfolk, UK), 22nd November 2006 |
For more photos and comment on these and other individuals, click here.
Dark-bellied Brent Goose x Pale-bellied Brent Goose
For more photos and comment on these, see the Pale-bellied Brent Goose page.
Egyptian Goose x Mallard
For more photos and comment on this group of 4 birds, click here.
Many thanks to Joern Lehmhus, Carl Gunnar Gustavsson and several others for their valuable input on the hybrids shown on this page.
