(Branta canadensis occidentalis)
The white-cheeked goose, known also as Mexican goose, is found only on
the Pacific Coast and never east of the Cascades in Washington and
Oregon, or the Sierra Nevadas in California. In fact, they are
generally confined to localities not far from the ocean. While both
the honker and the Hutchins goose have a white cheek, the white of the
honker meets under the chin or blends into a gray, but the white of
the white-cheeked variety is separated either with a distinct black
stripe under the chin or a mottled black and white one. Also the black
of the neck of the white-cheeked goose and the brownish gray of the
breast is very generally separated by a white collar, though sometimes
this is so faint as to be almost indistinguishable.
The white-cheeked goose is rarely seen south of Monterey Bay,
California.
=Color=--Same as the Canada goose, except that the white on the cheeks
is either separated under the chin by a black stripe or by only a very
few white feathers in the black. Between the neck and the dull gray of
the breast is a narrow white stripe, or collar. This some times is
very faint, and, in fact, some times, though very rarely, absent. This
absence of the collar is quite likely caused by its inter-grading with
the Hutchins goose.
=Nest and Eggs=--The same as the Canada goose.
=Measurements=--Wing, never more than 16 inches; bill, not more
than 1-1/4 inches.