Greater White-fronted Goose

Anser albifrons

Order ANSERIFORMES - Family ANATIDAE - Subfamily Anserinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

Breeding across the tundra from Nunavut to Siberia, across Russia, and in Greenland, the Greater White-fronted Goose has one of the largest ranges of any species of goose in the world. In North America, however, it is common only west of the Mississippi River, where it is found in large flocks in wetlands and croplands.

Cool Facts

• The Tule goose is a large, dark subspecies of the Greater White-fronted Goose. This form breeds just around Cook Inlet in Alaska, and numbers only about 7,500. It winters in the Sacramento Valley of California, where it meets the more widespread subspecies. The Tule goose uses primarily marshes while the other form forages in open fields.
• As is true of many geese, Greater White-fronted Goose pairs stay together for years and migrate together, along with their offspring. White-front family bonds can last longer than in most geese, and some young stay with their parents through the next breeding season. Parent and sibling associations may continue throughout their lives.

• A smaller, but very similar goose is found in northern Asia and Europe. It is known as the Lesser White-fronted Goose and is the reason our goose is known as the "Greater." Dwarf species seem to have appeared repeatedly in geese. Other similar pairs are the Ross's and Snow geese and the small and large forms of the Canada Goose.

• The Greater White-fronted Goose subspecies that breeds in Greenland usually winters in Ireland and Scotland. It occasionally turns up on the East Coast of North America. It is slightly larger than the typical American form, and has a brighter orange (less pink) bill, but telling them apart definitively is difficult.

Description

• Size: 64-81 cm (25-32 in)
• Wingspan: 135 cm (53 in)
• Weight: 1951-3311 g (68.87-116.88 ounces)

• Medium-sized goose.
• Body gray-brown.
• Forehead and base of bill white.

• Belly speckled with black.
• Legs orange.
• Bill pinkish to orange.
• Rump white.
• Flanks and undertail white.
• Tail dark with white tip.
• Eyes dark.
• Thin white stripe along side.
• Back feathers dark with tan tips.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger

Immature

Slightly smaller and lighter than adult. Lacks white forehead and black belly marks. Bill light pinkish. Legs yellow-orange

Similar Species

• The least distinctively marked of American geese. Most likely to be confused with domestic goose. Various breeds of domestic geese may have a white line behind bill, overall gray body, and orange bill and feet. Domestics lack the black belly markings, and have thicker necks and bigger bellies.
• Canada Goose has black neck and head with white cheek patch.
• Blue form of Snow Goose has all white head and white in the wings. Juvenile is blue-gray not brownish, and has a white, not black tail.

Sound

Call a high-pitched laughing or yelping, consisting of two or three notes.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from western Alaska eastward to Nunavut. Also across northern Russia and in Greenland.

Winter Range

Winters inland along the Pacific states from southern British Columbia southward to southern Mexico, and from central Mexico to the Mississippi River. Also in eastern Asia and British Isles.

Habitat

Breeds along tundra wetlands. Winters in agricultural fields, marshes, bays, and lakes.

Food

Seeds, grain, grasses, sedges, berries.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans grain from fields, grazes on grass, forages in shallow water by tipping-up.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest a scrape in the ground lined with plant material and down feathers.

Egg Description

White to tan, stained during incubation.

Clutch Size

1-8 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Covered with down and eyes open. Leaves nest within 24 hours of hatching and has the ability to swim and feed.

Conservation Status

Populations increasing. Pacific population had a severe decline in the 1970s and 1980s, but is recovering. Tule goose subspecies is vulnerable because of its low population size and restricted distribution.

Other Names

Oie rieuse (French)
Ganzo frente blanca (Spanish)
White-fronted Goose (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

1. Bellrose, F. C. 1976. Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA.
2. Ely, C. R., and A. X. Dzubin. 1994. Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons). In The Birds of North America, No. 131 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.