Bar-headed Goose x Greater White-fronted Goose hybrid

Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus x Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons hybrid

This individual has been present in this park for a few years. The silvery wash to the plumage and yellowy tone of the bill are typical features of Bar-headed Goose hybrids. I don't know which taxon of White-fronted Goose might be involved here. It's been suggested that it looks a bit large-billed so could perhaps involce Greenland White-fronted Goose (flavirostris). As there's a resident flock of Bar-headed Geese here I guess it's likely to have hatched in the park, so maybe someone knows what White-fronted Geese have been there too?

Bar-headed Goose x Greater White-fronted Goose hybrid (with Feral Pigeons), St James's Park (London, UK), 15th July 2013

I assume this was the same bird 5 years older.

Bar-headed Goose x Greater White-fronted Goose hybrid (with Bar-headed Goose), St James's Park (London, UK), 16th March 2018

This hybrid is fertile and has produced a number of backcrossed hybrids with Bar-headed Goose. This bird could easily have been overlooked as a pure Bar-headed Goose, but alongside a pure Bar-headed Goose it was more noticeably different.

backcrossed Bar-headed Goose x (Bar-headed Goose x Greater White-fronted Goose) hybrid (with Bar-headed Goose and Bar-headed Goose x Greater White-fronted Goose hybrid), St James's Park (London, UK), 16th March 2018

For comparison, here are photos of the parent species.

captive Bar-headed Goose, Grange-over-Sands (Cumbria, UK), 28th December 2011 and Greenland White-fronted Geese, Holkham (Norfolk, UK), 4th February 2012

For more photos of these species follow the links below: