Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons Scientific name definitions

The Greater White-fronted Goose is named for the white arc that encircles the base of its upper mandible, a character that it shares with the Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus); however, it has a variety of other names, commensurate with its broad distribution. In North America, waterfowl hunters typically refer to it as Specklebelly Goose (or simply Specklebelly) because of the conspicuous and distinctive blotching on the adult's belly (e.g., 1 Sutton, K. (2021). Specklebelly Goose tips. Ducks Unlimited. Close ). It has also been called Laughing Goose (2 Todd, F. S. (1997). Natural History of Waterfowl. Ibis Publishing Company, Vista, CA, USA. Close ), as its calls can resemble laughter, especially when in flocks. Surprisingly, the first known reference to this species comes from paintings inside the tomb of an Egyptian Prince at Meidum (near Cairo) dating back to circa 2550 B.C., wherein two Greater White-fronted Geese are depicted feeding in a field of grain with four other geese, two of which are likely Graylag Goose (Anser anser), and the other two of which may belong to a now-extinct species (3 Romilio, A. (2021). Assessing ’Meidum Geese’ species identification with the ‘Tobias criteria’. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 36, 2021, 102834. Close ).

The Greater White-fronted Goose is a sexually monomorphic species, generally monogamous, cryptically colored, highly migratory, and territorial while breeding. It is a long-lived bird that maintains permanent pair bonds and provides extended biparental care to its young, often into the next breeding season and beyond. It is gregarious and social except while nesting, preferring to nest singly or in loose aggregations. It lays three to seven pale tannish-white eggs. Unsuccessful pairs and some nonbreeders undertake a premolt migration to segregated molting grounds. During the nonbreeding season, from August to May, this species forms flocks and stages and roosts communally, often in association with other species of geese.

The Greater White-fronted Goose has a nearly circumpolar breeding distribution, the broadest within its genus, nesting in dry tundra, wet tundra, and taiga habitats. Its wintering range is equally broad, ranging south to approximately the Tropic of Cancer in Asia and North America and to approximately 40°N in Europe and the Middle East, favoring semiarid grasslands, wetlands, and agricultural fields during migration and winter. Within this extensive range, there are five subspecies (4 Banks, R. C. (1983). A review of the nomenclature of populations of the Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons. Unpublished report. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C., USA. Close , 5 Banks, R. C. (2011). Taxonomy of Greater White‐fronted Geese (Aves: Anatidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 124(3):226–233. Close ): Anser albifrons sponsa and A. a. elegasi in western North America, A. a. gambelli in eastern and central North America, A. a. flavirostris in the North Atlantic, and A. a. albifrons through much of Europe and Asia, the last of which can be split into two to six populations with largely segregated breeding and wintering areas (6 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General Chapters, and Species Accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 7 Deng, X., Q. Zhao, D. Solovyeva, H. Lee, I. Bysykatova-Harmey, Z. Xu, K. Ushiyama, T. Shimada, K. Koyama, J. Park, H. Kim, G. Liu, W. Xu, B. Hu, D. Gao, Y. Zhang, B. He, T. Natsagdorj, B. Davaasuren, S. Moriguchi, D. Barykina, A. Antonov, A. Stepanov, J. Zhang, L. Cao, and A. D. Fox (2020). Contrasting trends in two East Asian populations of the Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons. Wildfowl 6:181–205. Close ). Two of the five subspecies have a somewhat restricted breeding range and relatively small population, with the A. a. elegasi consisting of roughly 10,000 birds that breed only in Alaska's Cook Inlet (8 Timm, D. E., M. L. Wege and D. S. Gilmer. (1982). Current status and management challenges for Tule White-fronted Geese. Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 47:453-463. Close , 9 Ely, C. R., A. D. Fox, R. T. Alisauskas, A. Andreev, R. G. Bromley, A. G. Degtyarev, B. Ebbinge, E. N. Gurtovaya, R. Kerbes, A. V. Kondratyev, I. Kostin, A. V. Krechmar, K. E. Litvin, Y. Miyabayashi, J. H. Mooij, R. M. Oates, D. L. Orthmeyer, Y. Sabano, G. Simpson, D. V. Solovieva, M. A. Spindler, Y. E. Syroechkovsky, J. Y. Takekawa, and A. Walsh (2005). Circumpolar variation in morphological characteristics of Greater White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons. Bird Study. 52(2): 104-119. Close , 10 Yparraguire, D., and M. Weaver. 2014. Population Status of the Tule Greater White-fronted Goose. California Department of Fish and Game. Close , 11 Fox, A. D., and J. O. Leafloor (2018). A global audit of the status and trends of Arctic and Northern Hemisphere goose populations. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland. Close ) and A. a. flavirostris consisting of circa 18,800 birds that breed only in coastal western Greenland (12 Boertmann, D. (1994). An annotated checklist to the birds of Grønland. Medd. Grønland, Bioscience 38:1–63. Close , 11 Fox, A. D., and J. O. Leafloor (2018). A global audit of the status and trends of Arctic and Northern Hemisphere goose populations. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland. Close ). The most recent estimates place the world population at just over 5,000,000 birds (11 Fox, A. D., and J. O. Leafloor (2018). A global audit of the status and trends of Arctic and Northern Hemisphere goose populations. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland. Close ). The Eurasian populations have increased at just over 3% per annum since 1988 and North American populations at approximately 5% per year since the mid-1970s (11 Fox, A. D., and J. O. Leafloor (2018). A global audit of the status and trends of Arctic and Northern Hemisphere goose populations. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland. Close ), with increases attributed to hunting restrictions (13 Fox, A. D. (2003) The Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris. The annual cycle of a migratory herbivore on the European continental fringe. Doctor’s dissertation (DSc), National Environment Research Institute, Denmark. Close , 14 Mitchell, C., K. Colhoun, A. D. Fox, L. Griffin, C. Hall, R. Hearn, C. Holt, and A. Walsh (2010). Trends in goose numbers wintering in Britain & Ireland, 1995 to 2008. Ornis Svecica 20:128–143. Close , 7 Deng, X., Q. Zhao, D. Solovyeva, H. Lee, I. Bysykatova-Harmey, Z. Xu, K. Ushiyama, T. Shimada, K. Koyama, J. Park, H. Kim, G. Liu, W. Xu, B. Hu, D. Gao, Y. Zhang, B. He, T. Natsagdorj, B. Davaasuren, S. Moriguchi, D. Barykina, A. Antonov, A. Stepanov, J. Zhang, L. Cao, and A. D. Fox (2020). Contrasting trends in two East Asian populations of the Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons. Wildfowl 6:181–205. Close ) and increased use of agricultural fields, including corn (15 Krapu, G. L., K. J. Reinecke, D. G. Jorde, S. G. Simpson (1995). Spring-staging ecology of midcontinent Greater White-fronted Geese. The Journal of Wildlife Management 59:736-746. Close , 16 Ely, C.R. and Raveling, D.G. (2011). Seasonal variation in nutritional characteristics of the diet of Greater White-Fronted Geese. Journal of Wildlife Management. 75(1): 78–91. Close ), rice (17 Shimada, T. (2002). Daily Activity Pattern and Habitat Use of Greater White-fronted Geese Wintering in Japan: Factors of the Population Increase. Waterbirds 25:371–377. Close , 16 Ely, C.R. and Raveling, D.G. (2011). Seasonal variation in nutritional characteristics of the diet of Greater White-Fronted Geese. Journal of Wildlife Management. 75(1): 78–91. Close , 18 Cunningham, S. A., Q. Zhao, and M. D. Weegman (2020). Increased rice flooding during winter explains the recent increase in the Pacific Flyway White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons frontalis population in North America. Ibis 163:231-246. Close ), and wheat (15 Krapu, G. L., K. J. Reinecke, D. G. Jorde, S. G. Simpson (1995). Spring-staging ecology of midcontinent Greater White-fronted Geese. The Journal of Wildlife Management 59:736-746. Close , 16 Ely, C.R. and Raveling, D.G. (2011). Seasonal variation in nutritional characteristics of the diet of Greater White-Fronted Geese. Journal of Wildlife Management. 75(1): 78–91. Close ), as well as barley, oats, and potatoes (16 Ely, C.R. and Raveling, D.G. (2011). Seasonal variation in nutritional characteristics of the diet of Greater White-Fronted Geese. Journal of Wildlife Management. 75(1): 78–91. Close ).

Although the Greater White-fronted Goose has been well studied in Europe and parts of Asia (19 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons, Editors (1977). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), only a modest published data base exists for its Nearctic forms, despite a significant numbers of unpublished reports. Important bibliographies for the species can be found in Palmer (20 Palmer, R. S. (1976). Handbook of North American Birds, Volume 2: Waterfowl. Part 1. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, USA. Close ), Cramp and Simmons (19 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons, Editors (1977). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), Johnsgard (21 Johnsgard, P. A. (1978). Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, USA. Close ), Bellrose (22 Bellrose, F. C. (1980). Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America. Revised edition. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, USA. Close ), Owen (23 Owen, M. (1980). Wild Geese of the World: their Life History and Ecology. B. T. Batsford Ltd,London, UK . Close ), Fox and Stroud (24 Fox, A. D., and D. A. Stroud. (1981). Report of the 1979 Greenland White-fronted Goose study Expedition to Egglungmiut Nuhot, West Greenland. Nimsfeilde Press Ltd., Aberystuyth Close ), Weller (25 Weller, M. W. (1988). Waterfowl in Winter. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Close ), Johnson and Herter (26 Johnson, S. R., and D. R. Herter (1989). The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration, Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Close ), Smith et al. (27 Smith, L. M., R. L. Pederson, and R. M. Kaminski (1989). Habitat management for migrating and wintering waterfowl in North America. Texas Technical University of Press, Lubbock, TX, USA. Close ), and Batt et al. (28 Batt, B. D. J., A. D. Afton, M. G. Anderson, C. D. Ankney, D. H. Johnson, J. A. Kadlec, and G. L. Krapu (1992). Ecology and Management of Breeding Waterfowl. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Close ).