Greater White-fronted Goose

Description:

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 the Greater 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. 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.

Habitat:

The white-fronted goose is a total of five subspecies in the far north of Asia and America as well as in southwestern Greenland indigenous to bird. The Greenland White-fronted Goose - (Anser alb . Flavirostris ) breeds in western Greenland and Iceland in the winter draws on areas in Scotland and Ireland. As rare Irrgast it is observed occasionally in the winter half of the year in Central Europe. The existence of the Greenland white-fronted goose - is low overall . Due to current inventory declines the hunting of these subspecies in the entire flyway was set in 2006 . The European white-fronted goose (Anser alb . Albifrons ) breeds in the tundra between the North Russian Kanin Peninsula to the Chatanga on the Taimyr peninsula . They wintered spread over several Zugwegsysteme between Kazakhstan and England. Current results of the satellite telemetry have a complex system of migration routes between breeding and winter areas. The majority of currently attracts presumably to Western Europe , where the focus of the wintry snap action in Mecklenburg -Vorpommern, Brandenburg , Lower Saxony , the Netherlands and Belgium are . The wintering in Central Europe White-fronted Geese have their breeding grounds mainly in the European part of the Arctic to the Kanin Peninsula. Ring recoveries also proves that occasionally arrive in Central Europe, white-fronted geese that moult on the Taimyr peninsula . White-fronted Geese in Central Europe only winter visitors . The test flight will begin in late September. The retreat takes place from February to March. The population has recovered significantly since a historic low after the Second World War, is now estimated at around 1-1.2 million individuals. The inventory growth is currently closed.