STABLE-CARBON ISOTOPES SUPPORT USE OF ADVENTITIOUS COLOR TO DISCERN WINTER ORIGINS OF LESSER SNOW GEESE

We scored adventitious color on the head plumage of Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) collected from four winter habitats, January-March, 1983-1984. Geese from brackish marshes in Louisiana wer e more rust-colored than those collected in agricultural habitats or i n freshwater coastal marshes in Texas, where virtually no color was pr esent Stable-carbon isotope analyses of geese from a site where geese from southern winter areas mix with resident winter birds during sprin g migration, support conclusions that birds with rust color are from b rackish marshes in Louisiana farther south.