>Anser indicus (Bar-headed Goose)

Bar-headed Goose

Bar-headed Goose
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Anserinae
Tribe:	Anserini
Genus:	Anser
Species:	A. indicus
Binomial name
Anser indicus (Latham, 1790)
Synonyms
Eulabeia indica

The Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) is a goose which breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest.

Life and habitat

Swimming at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park

Three at Tama Zoo, Japan

The summer habitat is high altitude lakes where the bird grazes on short grass. The species has been reported as migrating south from Tibet, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia before crossing the Himalaya. The bird has come to the attention of medical science in recent years as having been an early victim of the H5N1 virus, HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza), at Qinghai. It suffers predation from crows, foxes, ravens, sea eagles, gulls and others. The total population may, however, be increasing, but it is complex to assess population trends as this species occurs over more than 2.5 million square kilometres.

The Bar-headed Goose is thought to be one of the world's highest flying birds, having been heard flying across Mount Makalu (the fifth highest mountain on earth at 8,481 metres (27,825 ft)) and apparently seen over Mount Everest (8,848 metres (29,029 ft), although this is a second hand report with no verification).This incredibly demanding migration has long puzzled physiologists and naturalists: "there must be a good explanation for why the birds fly to the extreme altitudes […] particularly since there are passes through the Himalaya at lower altitudes, and which are used by other migrating bird species" quoted from Black & Tenney (1980). In fact bar-headed geese have never been directly tracked (using GPS or satellite logging technology) flying higher than 6,540 metres (21,460 ft), and it is now believed that they do take the high passes through the mountains. The challenging northward migration from lowland India to breed in the summer on the Tibetan Plateau is undertaken in stages, with the flight across the Himalaya (from sea-level) being undertaken non-stop in as little as seven hours. Surprisingly, despite predictable tail winds that blow up the Himalayas (in the same direction of travel as the geese), bar-headed geese spurn these winds, waiting for them to die down overnight, when they then undertake the greatest rates of climbing flight ever recorded for a bird, and sustain these climbs rates for hours on end.

The bar-headed goose is known to be well equipped for this incredibly challenging migration. It has a slightly larger wing area for its weight than other geese, which is believed to help the goose fly at high altitudes. Studies have found that they breathe more deeply and efficiently under low oxygen conditions The haemoglobin of their blood has a higher oxygen affinity than that of other geese.

The Bar-headed Goose migrates over the Himalayas to spend the winter in parts of India (from Assam to as far south as Tamil Nadu. The winter habitat of the Bar-headed Goose is cultivated fields, where it feeds on barley, rice and wheat, and may damage crops. Birds from Kyrgyzstan have been noted to stopover in western Tibet and southern Tajikistan for 20 to 30 days before migrating further south. Some birds may show high wintering site fidelity.

 
The bird is pale grey and is easily distinguished from any of the other grey geese of the genus Anser by the black bars on its head. It is also much paler than the other geese in this genus. In flight, its call is a typical goose honking. The adult is 71–76 centimetres (28–30 in) and weighs 1.87–3.2 kilograms (4.1–7.1 lb).

It has sometimes been separated from Anser, which has no other member indigenous to the Indian region, nor any at all to the Ethiopian, Australian, or Neotropical regions, and placed in the monotypic genus Eulabeia.

They nest mainly on the Tibetan plateau. Intraspecific brood parasitism is noticed with lower rank females attempting to lay their eggs in the nests of higher ranking females.

The Bar-headed Goose is often kept in captivity, as it is considered beautiful and breeds readily. Records in Great Britain are frequent, and almost certainly relate to escapes. However, the species has bred on several occasions in recent years and around five pairs were recorded in 2002, the most recent available report of the Rare Birds Breeding Panel. It is possible the species is becoming gradually more established in Great Britain. The bird is sociable and causes no problems for other birds.The "wild" population is believed to be declining in Great Britain due to over-hunting.

Gallery

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  Bar-headed Geese Scape at Keoladeo National Park
 
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  Preening & resting at Keoladeo National Park
 
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  At  Keoladeo National Park
 
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  At Keoladeo National Park
 
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  Keoladeo National Park
 
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  Bharatpur, India.
 
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  Flying off at  Bharatpur,India.
 
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  Flying off at  Bharatpur,Rajasthan, India.
 
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  Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, England
 
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  At  Keoladeo National Park,Bharatpur, Rajasthan,India.

>Anser anser (Greylag Goose)

Greylag Goose

Greylag Goose
Western Greylag Goose (Anser anser anser)
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Anserinae
Tribe:	Anserini
Genus:	Anser
Species:	A. anser
Binomial name
Anser anser (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
A. a. anser (Linnaeus, 1758) Western Greylag Goose A. a. rubrirostris Swinhoe, 1871 Eastern Greylag Goose A. a. domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) Domesticated goose
Synonyms
Anas anser Linnaeus, 1758

The Greylag Goose (also spelled Graylag in the United States), Anser anser, is a bird with a wide range in the Old World. It is the type species of the genus Anser.

It was in pre-Linnean times known as the Wild Goose ("Anser ferus"). This species is the ancestor of domesticated geese in Europe and North America. Flocks of feral birds derived from domesticated birds are widespread.

The Greylag Goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Within science, the greylag goose is most notable as being the bird with which the ethologist Konrad Lorenz first did his major studying into the behavioural phenomenon of imprinting.

Description

The head of a Greylag Goose in profile

In flight

The Greylag is the largest and bulkiest of the greyAnser geese. It has a rotund, bulky body, a thick and long neck, and a large head and bill. It has pink legs and feet, and an orange or pink bill.It is 74 to 91 cm (29 to 36 in) long with a wing length of 41.2 to 48 cm (16.2 to 19 in). It has a tail 6.2 to 6.9 cm (2.4 to 2.7 in), a bill of 6.4 to 6.9 centimetres (2.5 to 2.7 in) long, and a tarsus of 7.1 to 9.3 centimetres (2.8 to 3.7 in). It weighs 2.16 to 4.56 kg (4.8 to 10.1 lb), with a mean weight of around 3.3 kg (7.3 lb). The wingspan is 147 to 180 cm (58 to 71 in).Males are generally larger than females, with the sexual dimorphism more pronounced in the eastern subspecies rubirostris, which is larger than the nominate subspecies on average.

The plumage of the Greylag Goose is greyish-brown, with a darker head and paler belly with variable black spots. Its plumage is patterned by the pale fringes of its feathers. It has a white line bordering its upper flanks. Its coverts are lightly coloured, contrasting with its darker flight feathers. Juveniles differ mostly in their lack of a black-speckled belly.

It has a loud cackling call, HOOOOOONK!, like the domestic goose.

Distribution and habitat

This species is found throughout the Old World, apparently breeding where suitable localities are to be found in many European countries, although it no longer breeds in southwestern Europe. Eastwards it extends across Asia to China. In North America there are both feral domestic geese, which are similar to greylags, and occasional vagrants.

In Great Britain their numbers have declined as a breeding bird, retreating north to breed wild only in the Outer Hebrides and the northern mainland of Scotland. However during the 20th century, feral populations have been established elsewhere, and they have now re-colonised much of England. The breeding habitat is a variety of wetlands including marshes, lakes, and damp heather moors.

In Norway, the number of greylag geese is estimated to have increased three- to fivefold during the last 15–20 years. As a consequence, farmers' problems caused by goose grazing on farmland has increased considerably. This problem is also evident for the pink-footed goose.

Behaviour

The geese are migratory, moving south or west in winter, but Scottish breeders, some other populations in northwestern Europe, and feral flocks are largely resident. This species is one of the last to migrate, and the "lag" portion of its name is said to derive from this lagging behind other geese.

Gallery

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  Probably hybrid with Domestic Goose: note bulky head and neck with vestigial pattern.
 
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  At Bharatpur, Rajasthan,India.
 
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  A Greylag Goose in St James's Park, London, England in May 2006
 
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  A pair of Greylag Geese by a Pentland Hills reservoir,Scotland.
 
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  A Greylag Goose at the Rhine in Bonn, Germany
 
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>Anser erythropus (Lesser White-fronted Goose)

Lesser White-fronted Goose

Lesser White-fronted Goose
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Anserinae
Tribe:	Anserini
Genus:	Anser
Species:	A. erythropus
Binomial name
Anser erythropus (Linnaeus, 1758)

A Lesser White-fronted Goose at Weltvogelpark Walsrode

The Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) is a goose closely related to the larger White-fronted Goose (A. albifrons).

It breeds in northernmost Asia, but it is a scarce breeder in Europe. There is a re-introduction scheme in Fennoscandia.

The Lesser White-fronted Goose winters further south in Europe and is a rare winter vagrant to Great Britain. Individual birds formerly appeared regularly at WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, England, where they inspired Sir Peter Scott to set up The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust – modern records, however, are far less frequent, a consequence of the species' decline on its European breeding grounds. An attractive species, it is also widely kept in wildfowl collections and, as a result, escapes do occur; individuals seen in summer, or in the company of other feral geese, are likely to be of captive origin.

The two white-fronted goose species differ little other than in size (the Lesser, at 53–66 cm length and with a 120–135 cm wingspan, is not much bigger than a Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) but both may be readily distinguished from the Greylag Goose by their bright orange legs and their mouse-coloured upper wing-coverts. The Greylag Goose has the bill and legs flesh-coloured, and the upper wing-coverts of a bluish-grey.

Both white-front species have a very conspicuous white face and broad black bars which cross the belly.

Adult Lesser White-fronted Geese, as well as being smaller than White-fronted Geese, have an obvious yellow eye-ring, and the white facial blaze goes up to the crown.

Lesser White-fronted Goose is considered an endangered species, but there are programmes to reintroduce animals into the wild to strengthen the population. Additionally it is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

>Anser albifrons (Greater White-fronted Goose)

Greater White-fronted Goose

Greater White-fronted Goose
A European White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons albifrons) at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Superorder:	Galloanserae
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Anserinae
Tribe:	Anserini
Genus:	Anser
Species:	A. albifrons
Binomial name
Anser albifrons (Scopoli, 1769)
Subspecies
A. a. albifrons European White-fronted Goose (Scopoli, 1769) A. a. frontalis Pacific White-fronted Goose (Baird, 1858) A. a. gambeli Gambel's White-fronted Goose (Hartlaub, 1852) A. a. elgasi Tule Goose (Delacour & Ripley, 1975)(disputed) A. a. flavirostris Greenland White-fronted Goose (Dalgety & (Scott, 1948)
Synonyms
Branta albifrons Scopoli, 1769

The Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) is a species of goose. The Greater White-fronted Goose is more closely related to the smaller Lesser White-fronted Goose (A. erythropus). In Europe it has been known as simply "White-fronted Goose"; in North America it is known as theGreater White-fronted Goose (or "Greater Whitefront"), and this name is also increasingly adopted internationally. It is named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill. But even more distinctive are the salt-and-pepper markings on the breast of adult birds, which is why the goose is colloquially called the "Specklebelly" in North America.

Description

Greater White-fronted Geese are 64–81 cm (25–32 in) in length, have a 130–165 cm (51–65 in) wingspan and weigh 1.93–3.31 kg (4.3–7.3 lb). They have bright orange legs and mouse-coloured upper wing-coverts. They are smaller than Greylag Geese. As well as being larger than the Lesser White-fronted Goose, the Greater White-fronted Goose lacks the yellow eye-ring of that species, and the white facial blaze does not extend upwards so far as in Lesser.

The male is typical larger in size, both sexes are similar in appearance – greyish brown birds with light grey breasts dappled with dark brown to black blotches and bars. Both males and females also have a pinkish bill and orange legs and feet.

Differences between European and Greenland birds

The appearance of European or Russian White-fronted Geese, of the race albifrons and Greenland White-fronted Geese, of the race flavirostris, differ in a number of ways. Greenland White-fronted Goose, in all plumages, looks darker and more 'oily-looking' than European White-fronted Goose, both at rest and in flight.

The following are the differences which apply to first-winter plumage:

• The mantle and scapulars of flavirostris have narrow, indistinct pale fringes creating a uniform appearance to the birds' upperparts, whereas albifrons has noticeable whitish fringes creating obviously barred upperparts
• The tertials of flavirostris have indistinct pale fringes, whereas these pale fringes are more noticeable on albifrons
• The lesser- and median-upperwing-coverts of flavirostris have narrow, indistinct pale fringes, creating a rather uniform appearance ot the wing, whereas on albifrons, these fringes are prominent and broad, creating wingbars
• The greater-coverts of flavirostris are dark grey, with a narrow white tip, forming a narrow wing-bar; on albifrons they are blue-grey, with prominent white tips, forming a bold wing-bar
• The flank-line is narrows and white on flavirostris, but broad and bright white on albifrons
• The tail of flavirostris is dark brown, with a very narrow white tip and sides; that of albifrons is dark grey, and the white tip and sides are at least double the width of the corresponding areas on flavirostris
• The bill of flavirostris is orange-yellow with a dark nail, compared with the bright pink bill ofalbifrons which has only a hint of dark on the nail; in addition the bill of flavirostris is longer and appears slimmer than that of albifrons

The belly-barring on adult birds is on average more extensive on flavirostris than on albifrons, but the individual variation in both forms renders this of limited use as an identification feature.

The bill of adult Greenland White-fronts are also orange-yellow at the base, but can be more pinkish-yellow on the outer-half, thus close in colour to European White-fronts; the colour difference is more easily determined in dull, flat light rather than bright sunshine.

Taxonomy

The Greater White-fronted Goose is divided into four subspecies. The nominate subspecies A. a. albifrons breeds in the far north of Europe and Asia, and winters further south and west in Europe.

Two other restricted-range races occur in northern North America: A. a. gambeli in interior northwest Canada, and wintering on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, slightly larger than the nominate form, and Tule Goose, A. a. elgasi, in southwest Alaska, largest and longest-billed of all, wintering in California. All these races are similar in plumage, differing only in size.

Finally, the very distinct Greenland White-fronted Goose, A. a. flavirostris, breeding in western Greenland, is much darker overall, with only a very narrow white tip to the tail (broader on the other races), more black barring on its belly, and usually has an orange (not pink) bill. It winters in Ireland and western Scotland.

Birds breeding in the far east of Siberia east to Arctic Canada, wintering in the United States and Japan, have been described as A. a. frontalison the basis of their slightly larger size and a marginally longer bill. Another putative East Asian subspecies albicans has also been described. A 2012 study has found that frontalis and albicans do not merit subspecies status, the former being synonymised with gambelli and the latter with the nominate subspecies; this study fond that tehse forms had been named on the wintering grounds from specimens whose breeding grounds were unknown.

Recent ecological studies suggest the Greenland birds should probably be considered a separate species from A. albifrons.Of particular interest is its unusually long period of parental care and association, which may last several years and can include grandparenting, possibly uniquely among the Anseriformes.

Distribution

The North American midcontinent birds of the subspecies A. a. gambeli – which in 2010 had a fall population of about 710,000 birds – breeds from the Alaska North Slope across the western and central Canadian Arctic. The Tule Geese of the American Pacific coast, which in 2010 numbered approximately 650,000 birds, nest in western Alaska. The midcontinent geese gather in early fall on the prairies of western Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta, spending several weeks feeding before heading to wintering areas near the Gulf of Mexico, into northern Mexico. The Pacific birds migrate south down the Pacific coast, staging primarily in the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon and northern California and wintering, eventually, in California's Central Valley. The Tule Goose is very rare and has been since the latter half of the 19th century,presumably it was affected by destruction of its wintering habitat due to human settlement.

In the British Isles, two races overwinter: Greenland birds in Scotland and Ireland, and Russian birds in England and Wales. They gather on farmland at favoured traditional sites, with a famous flock gathering at WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England. Greenland birds also overwinter in Ireland and from late September and through the winter months, Ireland is home to almost 50% of the Greenland population of white-fronted geese.

A. a. albifrons and A. a. flavirostis are among the taxa to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds(AEWA) applies.

Behaviour and ecology

Weather conditions are a key factor in the annual breeding success of White-fronted Geese. In the Arctic, the window of opportunity for nesting, incubating eggs, and raising a brood to flight state is open briefly, for about three months. Arriving in late May or early June, White-fronted Geese begin departing for fall staging areas in early September. This means that a delayed snowmelt or late spring storm can significantly reduce the birds' reproductive success.

Gallery

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  Pacific White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons frontalis
 
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  Walking on ice
 
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  Illustration from Hume and Marshall's Gamebirds of India, Burmah and Ceylon.
  Greenland White-fronted Goose is similar to left bird.

>Anser brachyrhynchus (Pink-footed Goose)

Pink-footed Goose

Pink-footed Goose
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Anserinae
Tribe:	Anserini
Genus:	Anser
Species:	A. brachyrhynchus
Binomial name
Anser brachyrhynchus Baillon, 1834

The Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) is a goose which breeds in eastern Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. It is migratory, wintering in northwest Europe, especially Great Britain, the Netherlands, and western Denmark. The name is often abbreviated in colloquial usage to Pinkfoot (plural Pinkfeet).

It is a medium-sized goose, 60–75 cm (24–30 in) long, the wingspan 135–170  (53–67 in) cm, and weighing 1.8–3.4 kg (4–7.5 lbs). It has a short bill, bright pink in the middle with a black base and tip, and pink feet. The body is mid grey-brown, the head and neck a richer, darker brown, the rump and vent white, and the tail grey with a broad white tip. The upper wing-coverts are of a somewhat similar pale bluish-grey as in the Greylag Goose, and the flight feathers blackish-grey. The species is most closely related to the Bean Goose Anser fabalis(having even been treated as a subspecies of it at times in the past), sharing a similar black-and-coloured pattern bill, but differing in having pink on the bill and legs where the Bean Goose is orange, and in the paler, greyer plumage tones. It is similar in size to the small rossicussubspecies of Bean Goose, but distinctly smaller than the nominate subspecies fabalis. It produces a medley of high-pitched honking calls, being particularly vocal in flight, with large skeins being almost deafening.

Population

Part of a feeding flock in winter

There are two largely discrete populations of Pink-footed Goose. The Greenland and Iceland population winter in Great Britain, while the Svalbard population winters in the Netherlands and Denmark, with small numbers also in Norway (where it is common on migration), northern Germany, and Belgium.

Populations have risen spectacularly over the last 50 years, due largely to increased protection from shooting on the wintering grounds. Numbers wintering in Great Britain have risen almost tenfold from 30,000 in 1950 to 292,000 in October 2004. The numbers wintering in Denmark and the Netherlands have also risen, with about 34,000 in 1993. The most important single breeding site, at Þjórsárver in Iceland (holding 10,700 pairs in 1970), was only discovered in 1951, by Sir Peter Scott and his team who made an expedition to seek the breeding grounds. Within Great Britain, the most important wintering areas are in Norfolk (147,000 in 2004), Lancashire (44,000 in 2004), and Aberdeenshire (primarily on autumn and spring passage). Large to huge wintering flocks graze on farmland; individual flocks can be spectacular, such as the 66,000 at Loch of Strathbeg, Aberdeenshire in early September 2003.

Ecology

Nesting is often on cliffs close to glaciers to provide protection from mammalian predators (mainly Arctic Fox), also on islets in lakes. Three to six eggs are laid in early to mid May in Iceland, late May in Svalbard, with incubation lasting 26–27 days. On hatching, the goslings accompany the parents on foot to the learest lake, where they fledge after about 56 days. Southbound migration is from mid September to early October, and northbound from mid April to early May.

The diet is almost entirely vegetarian. In summer, they feed on a wide range of tundra plants, both on land and in water. In winter, they graze primarily on oilseed rape, sugar beet, potato, and various grasses; damage to crops can be extensive, though their grazing can also benefit particularly sugar beet and potato farmers by gleaning leaves and roots left behind after the crop is harvested, reducing the transmission of crop diseases from one year to the next.

Vagrancy

Despite the proximity to the large winter numbers in Great Britain, only very small numbers occur in Ireland and France. It is a rare vagrant to several other European countries and as far south as Morocco and the Canary Islands, and also to eastern Canada and the United States(from Newfoundland south to Pennsylvania).

The Pink-footed Goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.