Greater White-fronted Goose at Neville Island, Allegheny County, PA
This greater white-fronted goose was present around Neville Island with a flock of about 100 Canada geese from the day
it was discovered (February 18 by Mark Vass) to at least the 20th, when the first two pictures below were taken. The
final picture below was taken on the 18th an hour or so after the bird's discovery.
Digital pictures and computer monitors don't always display colors consistently across different systems, so the color
of the bill compared to the legs may not be immediately obvious in the pictures below depending on the monitor you are
using. As I see the pictures directly from the camera, and from my observations in the field, the bill on this bird
is more orange than pink. Taken in conjunction with some of the other characteristics noted in The Sibley Guide
to Birds, namely, the very narrow pale edges on the back feathers, the extent of the black barring on the belly, and
the overall dark cast to the bird in general, make this almost certainly an individual of the Greenland population.
As far as I know, this is the first record for greater white-fronted goose since the late 1800s for Allegheny County
and the first ever documented by photograph.