Visited my mother today, and found she had a surprise on the pond behind her house: a white Canada Goose! We were unsure if it was, in fact, a Canada Goose at first, but it was the same size and shape (and likewise, still not fully fledged) as the goslings in the family of geese with whom it was eating. None of the others either chased it away or treated it any differently. Its bill and legs were orange, and from what I could tell, it was dark-eyed. In fact, it looked virtually the same as the gosling shown in this picture, taken by Flickr poster aerial2.
This is a condition called leucism, where the pigment in an animal's skin fails to develop properly. It's not to be confused with albinism, where the animal's eyes would be red or pink.
I hope the little guy grows up to be a strong, healthy bird. I can't wait to see him fully fledged. What an interesting anomaly. I'll have to keep track of him and see if progress through life is different for the "odd bird out" than for his siblings. So far, he seems to love life on Mom's pond. :)
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