Pilgrim Goose
The Pilgrim Goose is thought to have come to America with the pilgrims and then named in the early 20th century by a Missouri farmer. It is a unique bird in that the sex of the bird can be distinguished by color; this is known as auto-sexing. Even when young the birds can be distinguished, as the day-old males are silver-yellow with light-colored bills and the young females are olive-gray with their darker bills. The adult ganders (males) are mostly white, usually with gray rumps and traces of color in the tail and wings with blue eyes. Mature geese (females) are soft dove-gray with varying amounts of white in their faces and dark brown eyes. The bills and the legs are orange in both sexes. Pilgrims are medium-sized geese, weighing 13-14 pounds at maturity.
