White-fronted Goose
\nThe
White-fronted Goose (
Anser albifrons) is a
goose closely related to the smaller
Lesser White-fronted Goose (
A. erythropus). In North America it is known as the
Greater White-fronted Goose.
Both white-fronted species have a very conspicuous white face and the broad black bars which cross the belly, though the last two characters are occasionally observable to some extent in the
Greylag Goose, which, however, has the bill and legs flesh-coloured, and pale bluish-grey upper wing-coverts. White-fronts 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 Whitefront lacks the yellow eye-ring of that, and the white facial blaze does not extend upwards so far as in that species.
The Greater Whitefront is divided into five races. The nominate race
albifrons breeds in the far north of
Europe and
Asia, and winters further south and west in
Europe. In the far east of
Siberia east to arctic
Canada, it is replaced by the race
frontalis, slightly larger and with a marginally longer bill, wintering in the
U.S and
Japan. Two other restricted-range races occur slightly further south in northern
North America; race
gambeli in interior northwest Canada, slightly larger still and wintering on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and race
elgasi (
Tule Goose) 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 race
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
Scotland. Recent ecological studies suggest it should probably be considered a separate species from
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.
