The goose who comes from breakfast.
These photos taken on Kauai Island, Hawaii, by Anna Chavez. If you can’t have a crowd of Canada Geese on your lawn, I guess the endangered Nene will do. Also known as the Hawaiian Goose it’s the state bird and is endemic to the islands.
A most handsome goose with those feathered flanges running down the neck. And to think I could never find a Nene on the Big Island. I’ve seen numerous Nene in England where they’re a favorite for waterfowl collections in parks and on private estates.
The National Geographic website explains that the Nene evolved from Canada geese that reached the islands and then evolved to survive in the dryer inland climate, developed feet that could take the raw lava beds and wings became smaller as flight was less important. Before humans reached the islands there were no predatory mammals nor large reptiles. Both the owl and hawk on Hawaii are much smaller than the Nene. In prehistoric Hawaii the Nene adult would have had no real threats. Goats, mongoose and human huntersa radically changed the habitat and the Nene’s personal security.
Towheeblog 
Hiya Harry …
I can’t compete with Anna’s bird picture, but I can tell you that we had an unusual visitor to the Bay Area: http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080109/NEWS/801090336/1033/NEWS01
BTW, I saw dead birds littering 101 near Candlestick. They stretched long enough on the southbound shoulder that I could 30 bodies before having to avoid rear-ending the truck in front of me. On the return trip I counted an equal number heading north. They were all sea birds.
Watcha think?
cheers.
By: Shinnick on January 29, 2008
at 1:53 am
awsome pictures of the goose, does it really come back every morning?
By: gogogrl on March 5, 2009
at 11:13 am