Geese with white heads?

[AmberH]

I was driving by a corn field on Friday evening and I saw a lot of Canada geese. Something caught my eye though. There were two geese who were marked like the Canadas only they had a white head. What could they be? I've never seen anything like them.
At first I thought that it was just a weird mutation of the Canada goose. But then I got to thinking... what would the two that look different be paired off together. Any idea what they might be?

A quick Google search brought up this picture. The site said it was a cross breed.

 

[noahsgeese]

Maybe a mix would be my guess?

 

[katharinad]

It's a blue goose.
Katharina

 

[AmberH]

Are they native to Indiana? I've never seen them before the other day. They were really neat. They really stood out within the group of Canada geese.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Native is a sort of loose concept with migrating geese. Indiana is on the very edge of their known normal summer range and then only the SW corner. Seeing it is with Canadas it probably went with them. The blue goose has two color plumage morphs, white (snow) or gray/blue (blue) that interbreed and the offspring color can be of either color (or morph).

 

[AmberH]

Very interesting! Thanks so much for the info.

 

[DianeR]

I took the attached photo today at lunch in Auburn, NE. The one with the white head stands out in the crowd. After reading, I agree it is a blue goose. I love lunching with these guys. They're so much fun to watch. The winter has been very mild here, & more to eat than down south. Lucky us!

 

[spectrumranch]

The photo of the white headed goose in post 1 is a hybrid.

The white headed goose in post 7 is a Blue goose.

If you compare the two, number 1 is a larger goose with brown color where as goose in number 7 is smaller than the canadian geese and a more blue color.

 

[Tivona]

Do Blue Geese have black bills? I thought they had pink...I've only seen them in pictures.

 

[spectrumranch]

Do Blue Geese have black bills? I thought they had pink...I've only seen them in pictures.

Blue geese have a pinkish / orange bill.