phases?

[rainplace]

After reading the Barnacle thread I started looking at different wild geese and fell in love with the Snow Goose. I guess they have a white phase and blue phase. I keep reading about phases. But I don't know if I understand the context. Does it mean that one bird is white during one phase and blue during another? Or does it mean that the same breed of goose comes in two different colors... one can be white and another can be blue?

 

[Soccer Mom]

According to Cornell:

The dark color of the blue morph Snow Goose is controlled by a single gene, with dark being partially dominant over white. If a pure dark goose mates with a white goose, the offspring will all be dark (possibly with white bellies). If two white geese mate, they have only white offspring. If two dark geese mate, they will have mostly dark offspring, but might have a few white ones too.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/snow_goose/lifehistory

So it's blue all the time.​

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
After reading the wikipedia article i would say that they are two different colors like white and brown Chinas. Put another way if you are hatched Blue you stay blue all your life. One of the most beautiful geese I have ever seen was a cross between a white snow goose and a blue goose. It was mostly white but every feather was outlined in blue. Chicken and duck people may know the correct term for this, I don't since you rarely see it in geese. It reminded me of a goose in armor.

 

[rainplace]

it's the word "phase" that kept confusing me. Thank you.

 

[rainplace]

Snow Goose: Large goose with two color phases. White phase is all white with black wing tips. Blue phase has white head and neck, blue-gray upperparts, gray-brown breast and sides, white belly. Pink bill, black lower mandible. Pink legs, feet.

from http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/294/_/Snow_Goose.aspx