Ecological Aspects of the Blue-Snow Goose Complex

Coocn T}tE taxonomic relationship of the Blue Goose (Chen caerulesceus cacrulescens) and the Lesser Snow' Goose (Chcn hyperborca hyperborea) has long created controversy among avian systematists, e.g., Blaauw (1908), Soper (1930), Sutton (1932), Manning (1942), and Manning et aI. (1956). I believe that the two forms are conspecific and that the species consists of two subspecies: a large form, Chcn cacruIcscens atIantica, which has no color phases, and a smaller form, Chcn caerulescens caeruIescens, which is polymorphic and has two clearly defined color phases. The remainder of the discussion is concerned only with the latter race.