Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid

Canada Goose Branta canadensis x Greylag Goose Anser anser hybrid

One of the most easily seen and photographed hybrids, at least in north-west Europe.

Greylag Goose is, of course, the ancestor of many domestic geese. Hybrids between domestic Greylag Goose and Canada Goose are more variable in appearance than hybrids between wild or feral Greylag Goose and Canada Goose. This is not surprising as domestic Greylags are very variable, with some resembling their wild ancestors and others looking quite different.

On this page I have only included birds which appear to involve wild or feral Greylag Geese, not domestic Greylag Geese. I have a separate page for hybrids between Canada Goose and domestic Greylag Goose. Having said that, some domestic hybrids can be impossible to separate from feral or wild Greylag hybrids, so it is possible that the Greylag Goose parent of some of the birds on this page may also be domestic, or at least the offspring of a domestic bird.

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 8th March 2008

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 29th May 2010

2x Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (with Canada Geese), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 30th January 2011

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (with Canada Goose), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 6th April 2009

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (with Greylag Goose), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 24th June 2007

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (with Canada Geese), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 20th September 2008

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Swanton Morley fishing lakes (Norfolk, UK), 16th April 2011

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Swanton Morley fishing lakes (Norfolk, UK), 27th February 2011

There were seven hybrids in this flock - I'm not sure if I've captured all of them in the photos though.

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrids (with Canada Geese), Salthouse (Norfolk, UK), 28th October 2009

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (with Canada Geese, a Barnacle Goose x Ross's Goose hybrid and a second Canada Goose x Greylag Goose in the background of the second photo), Salthouse (Norfolk, UK), 4th December 2010

There were at least three further Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrids at this site that had clear evidence that the Greylag parent was of domestic ancestry. These two didn't have the evidence so are included here, but of course it's possible that these too have domestic ancestry.

2x Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrids, Wissington fishing ponds (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2017

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Wissington (Norfolk, UK), 17th March 2012

2x Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrids, Pontefract Park (West Yorkshire, UK), 19th February 2024

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (with Greylag Goose), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 27th April 2009

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (with Greylag and Canada Geese), Bittering (Norfolk, UK), 17th December 2003

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 4th August 2007

2x Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrids, Bylaugh (Norfolk, UK), 6th September 2008

Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid, Bittering (Norfolk, UK), 26th August 2013

For comparison, here are photos of the parent species.

Canada Goose, Swanton Morley fishing lakes (Norfolk, UK), 16th August 2008 and Greylag Goose, Swanton Morley fishing lakes (Norfolk, UK), 28th December 2011

For more photos of these species follow the links below: