It is going to be close, but I think we are just barely going to get in under the wire to meet our self-imposed monthly post quota. Our streak is well over a decade and not willing to just throw all that effort away because of something trivial like lack of sleep ha. That and I don’t want to add “another” blemish to my performance this year with annual reviews just around the corner. Due to the short spacing between this and the last post, not really much to highlight as far as activities go with the exception I hit the 18 mile mark on my trail training today. I am feeling (a LOT) better about my conditioning now as that only puts me 7 miles short of the max training distance target – already at the 50+ mile mark for weekly mileage. Should be able to cover that remaining training distance in the next month assuming I can break away from the haunted trail for some good hard runs. The rest of the race distance is just a matter of grinding/gutting it out and that is exactly how I feel about today’s featured feathered friend.
Quick, take your first guess at this species and we will check it after the jump.
If I had to put money down on a Polymarket line my bet is you went with Canada Goose. An excellent choice with the fuller body, black head, white choke prints and brown wash. Now some of you out there might have a keen bird eye and/or was expecting some sleight of hand – those individuals just took the pot as this is not a Canada Goose, rather a new species making its debut here at Intrigued.
First time being featured, but not really a recent “new” bird as I have been checking off my annual list for several years now thanks to one of our golden birding rules – location, location, location. Just as in real estate, the adage holds when it comes to field work. The more you educate yourself on species behavior and the more you learn about their habitats the greater chance of success you will have in the field….then if you can use that knowledge to discover a consistent location to observe a given species you possess the Golden Goose (you knew that was coming ha).
To dismiss with the suspense, this is a Cackling Goose. At a macro level it is very similar to the more ubiquitous Canada Goose and can easily be overlooked in large flocks. More often than not, Cacklings tend to hang out with the Canadas, but their numbers are typically dwarfed by the abundance of their larger kin. I spent years and years scanning huge flocks of Geese in the hopes of being able to pick out the one or two Cacklings in their midst. Very similar to the Ross’s Goose which will intermingle with huge flocks of Snow Geese. In fact, so similar that the method to separate them out both involves bill shapes…among a few other attributes.
This series was taken back in March of 2025 and I am absolutely kicking myself for not getting a shot with both the Cackling and the Canada side by side. This has been a point of improvement with my more recent trips into the field, for now I will have to resort to providing a link to a previous Canada Goose post (link here).
There are three real indicators I use when trying to differentiate the two species and unfortunately, two of them are relative and you know how I hate to go that route. In the case of Cacklings, it is the neck and the bill size. Both of those will be smaller/shorter/stumpier than the Canada’s. That also lends itself to overlap with younger/developing Canada Geese so that can be even trickier. The third method is a more definitive approach in my opinion and that is to look at the profile of the head through to the bill. Canada’s have a smooth slope from the head into the bill compared to the step down look of the Cacklings. The 4th image in this post is a good look at that drop to the bill. I guess there is a 4th method and that is through their call. I struggle to distinguish between the two even though Cornell describes it as higher and noticeably different – that owes to their naming. The Merlin app does do a pretty good job at picking them out. Again, hearing it and spotting it in the masses is a completely different story.
The ranges for Cackling Geese are more restricted than Canada – before you ask, Canada Geese are NOT restricted to our northern neighbors although that is where they can head to breed before coming back into essentially the entirety of the US. The Cacklings pretty much cut a swath through the heart of the US along with a sparse showing along the east and west coast. Cornell lists them as a medium migrant as they will traverse all the way to the northern edge of Canada and Alaska for their frisky months. Not surprising to me, the Cackling and Canada used to be considered the same species until they were broken out in 2004.
Okay, time to double back on the location aspect and the reason I went with the specific title for this post. I have found 2 locations in the US that I can practically guarantee finding a Cackling Goose and each year we try to make our way to those spots so I can get that check without tearing my hair out (I can’t afford to lose any more hair up there!!!). Both leverage their non-breeding regions. The first location is up in Rochester, MN. We had annual visits at Mayo up there for Linda’s valve and we would make a quick stop at nearby lakes before we headed home. The other location is even easier and that is Amarillo, TX – specifically, Medi Park which has now been renamed the John Ward Memorial Park (link here). This is a great little urban park with a walkway around a linear pond which is absolutely full of birds (link here). The number of Canada Geese is relatively low and the ratio of Cacklings is surprisingly high. If you are in the area and need this species checked off or more importantly, still need it on your life list – drop in and get that taken care of.
I gotta get back to the haunt labs, just got word a deranged clown has broken containment and is tearing the place apart – reminds me I need to look into getting some of those electric shock gloves to have on hand when this happens.
Take care everyone, hope you enjoyed this first look at the Cackling Goose.
Wildlife Intrigued 
We get the odd one turn up in the UK, coming in with flocks of Pink Feet late autumn. Not bad for a ‘medium migrant’.
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Yeah, I was wondering about that characterization by Cornell as medium based on just the distance in migration in North America alone..add in a continent away and they are definitely getting short-changed. Have a great rest of your week across the pond.
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We have Canadas flying over our house a lot this time of year and sometimes we hear Cacklers as well. Their call is a higher pitch and we love hearing them.
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Kudos to your ability to detect those calls from the rest of the Honkers! If I heard them more I might have a better ear for them – as of now I have to look for those stubby necks ha. Take care Anneli.
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They often fly over quite high and sometimes at dark so it’s all audio in those cases, but you’re right, it’s easier to distinguish them from Canadas if you hear them frequently. (I hear Canadas out there right now, talking to each other about where to go with this weather system moving in.) But it’s the cacklers that I love hearing. They’re like a bunch of school kids – girls, to allow for the higher voices – at recess.
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A lot of those Canada flocks should start heading our way soon although it looks like a few of them stay around your coast all year round. School girls, that made me laugh.
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Yes, we do have a resident flock in the Comox Valley.
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Interesting post and nice photos! I wonder how many Cackling Geese I have mistaken for Canada Geese in the past 😏
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Thank you Belinda! I am in the same boat – for years I could never pick them out of the Canada flocks, but now that I have seen them a number of times I am getting much better at it – you are right, I am sure there are plenty out there hiding from us ha! Appreciate you coming by and take care up there!
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They migrate through this area of Siouxland (Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska) during spring and fall. Local Audubon folk have seen them mingled in with Canadian geese. Greater White- fronted’s mingle with Snow geese as well.
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You are absolutely right Jerry, the GWFG do like to mix in with the Snow Geese crows. Fortunately, they look quite distinct from them and therefore easy to spot in those large Snow flocks. Now the Cackling and the Canada, that is a completely different story ha. When doing some checking on Cornell for the post I did notice they will take flight right through your area. They fall short of IL, but we doing have a few that get lost in the process and can show up in the area – translated…pretty much a travel bird for me. Thanks for dropping in Jerry, have yourself a wonderful week (going to be miserably hot here).
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I’m all goosey over your goose. Congrats on hitting the 18-mile mark.
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Ha, you have to pass over a lot of ducks to get to one of these goose, gooses, goosies ack, these names get all jumbled in the singular. I am feeling better about the Oct ultra now. It has been a long road, but feeling good after that 18 is a big boost for my confidence. Very hot this week so hitting the breaks at 14 – next week I’ll push it to 20 or so and see how it goes. Make it to 25 by end of Sept and game on!
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Yet another informative article. Thank you!
Since “they” named this one over 20 years ago, I’ve been breathlessly anticipating reporting on them during winter migration. I am now nearly almost out of anticipatory breath.
Initially I thought the “nameless namers” of bird species had dropped by one of my relatives’ family reunions where there are typically plenty of Cackling Geese.
Good luck with corraling that errant clown.
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Hi Wally- for some reason the WP span filter scooped up both of your comments – no idea what that was, but I did get both of them approved. Looks like they came through two accounts, but I doubt that had anything to do with it – I blame the clowns!! It took me many a year to track down one of these Cacklers for my life list. For a long time I didn’t really believe they existed like the Boy Scout Snipes. There would be report after report at various locations, I’d grab my camera and head out only to get thoroughly pissed off when I couldn’t locate one. At that time I didn’t have a developed bird ear so I couldn’t rely on that aid and looking for a small necked goose in the middle of hundreds of slightly larger necks proved too much of a hurdle for me…then I was up at Mayo for Linda’s heart valve and THERE IT WAS. No I can pretty much spot them rather easily (definitely if they are calling). Sometimes you just have to break the ice ha. Per my latest post, my attempts at corralling that clown failed miserably!! Thanks for coming by and apologies for your comment(s) getting scooped up by the spam tool.
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I think something on my end has changed to prompt WP spammy things. Trying to run down what’s going on as your site is not the only one I’m having an issue with.
Yeah, could be Clowns.
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Let me know if you ever track down a reason – hoping WP is smart enough now to know I declared your addresses as not spam so it will ignore that labeling in the future.
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Yet another informative article. Thank you!
Since “they” named this one over 20 years ago, I’ve been breathlessly anticipating reporting on them during winter migration. I am now nearly almost out of anticipatory breath.
Initially I thought the “nameless namers” of bird species had dropped by one of my relatives’ family reunions where there are typically plenty of Cackling Geese.
Good luck with corraling that errant clown.
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Collected by spam filter for some reason – leaving this, but will respond in the other comment.
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You could also come to Colorado to see this goose, but you would have to come during winter, after the Lark Buntings have left. I regularly see flocks of hundreds of them; sometimes thousands.
Or you could spend an entire year in the state. 🙂
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Whoa, that is a lot of Cacklers in one spot. Either they are overwhelming the Canada Geese population they tend to hang out with …or keeping with the ratio I usually see there must be a billion Canada Geese there hehehehe. Unfortunately we have decided on more southern states for our next move (Linda is constantly reading the real estate listing in Texas) so a full year is out the question, but your state is definitely worth exploring more. We used to board/ski Breck all the time when we were younger but been a while now since hitting those slopes – torn medials, internal bleeding, sprained elbow, broken wrist and many near concussions – ah, those were the days!
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One could surmise that you have been hard on your body! 😉
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Now that you’ve pointed out the differences between this and the Canada, it’s quite clear, but I couldn’t have done it without the tutelage 🙂 I’ve added the Amarillo park to my list of locations – we often stop there on driving trips to Denver.
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Glad I could give you some pointers Sam. Just be very careful with the young Canada’s as they can trick you if just using relative sizing to the flock – the drop off from the forehead to the bill will help ferret out those imposters ha. I really like that park. Not big by any means but nicely kept up, appears safe from my many visits (doesn’t mean you shouldn’t always be alert) and very birdy (especially if you like Wood Ducks). Linda likes it because we can easily park the RV making it a pretty easy stop as we cruise through there on the way to Arizona.
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