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Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) Alternate name(s): "White-fronted Goose", "Greater Whitefront", "Specklebelly" German name(s): "Blässgans" Size: 64-81 cm; wing span 1.3-1.65 m Weight: 1.9-3.3 kg

Europe: Family Group 2 Family Group 2 Table Mute Swan Whooper Swan Greylag Goose Pink-footed Goose Greater White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Canada Goose Barnacle Goose Brent Goose Red-breasted Goose Common Eider Common Scoter Velvet Scoter Common Goldeneye Common Shelduck Ruddy Shelduck Northern Shoveler Eurasian Wigeon American Wigeon Garganey Northern Pintail Mallard Eurasian Teal Gadwall Common Pochard Red-crested Pochard Ferruginous Duck Tufted Duck Ring-necked Duck Smew Red-breasted Merganser Goosander Great Crested Grebe Black-necked Grebe Little Grebe Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Greater White-fronted Geese are large geese with a long neck. They have a dark-grey head, with a white frontal mask around the base of the upper bill. The front is mid-grey, with prominent irregularly shaped broad dark-grey bars on the belly. The undertail coverts are light-grey. The back is mid-grey, like the front. Only the wings have a brownish-grey bar pattern on the coverts. The flight feathers are dark-grey. The irises are dark-brown. The bill is pink, with a light-grey tip, while legs and feet are bright-orange. First winter Greater White-fronted Geese have only a small white frontal mask and little or no barring on the belly. Juveniles are all-grey, without a facial mask and a black tip of the bill.

Taxonomy, classification See Greater White-fronted Goose at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Greater White-fronted Goose is available HERE . There are several races of Greater White-fronted Geese, of which nominate race "albifrons" has the widest distribution (for details see a field guide). The range of the Greater White-fronted Goose extends basically around the northern hemisphere. Their breeding grounds are in the Arctic, spanning all northern continents and coastal areas of islands, such as Iceland and Greenland. Their wintering grounds are in temperate to subtropical climate zones, from Mexico and the US in North America to parts of central Europe, Asia Minor and on throughout mid-latitude Asia and parts of the Arabian coastlin to Mongolia, southern China, Korea and Japan and far-eastern Russia in the East. In continental Europe only Greater White-fronted Greese of nominate race "albifrons" are found as winter visitors. They occur in suitable wetlands in northern central Europe (the Benelux countries, southern Denmark, northern Germany and northern/central Poland), in parts of the Danube catchment (most prominently in the Hungarian Pusta) and along the North coast of the Black Sea. Apart from these areas, they are found only in selected wetlands in central Germany, western/central France and northern Spain. Otherwise, they can be observed as large skeins on the sky during their migration from the wintering grounds to their breeding grounds in northern Siberia. On the British Isles races "flavirostris" (from Greenland) and "albifrons" can be found as winter visitors. In Europe Greater White-fronted Geese can be found in both coastal and riverine wetlands, usually in grassland/meadows near shallow water.

Sightings Click here for sighting information D. Wilczynska reports spotting Greater White-fronted Geese, race "albifrons", in wetlands of the river Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, in March 2017. J. Pires reports spotting Greater White-fronted Geese, race "albifrons", in the Tejo estuary, Portugal, in October 2018.

Photos

Race "albifrons"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Adult Greater White-fronted Geese, with a prominent white facial mask, together with first-winter birds just developing a facial mask (e.g. on the right) and juveniles, e.g. back left, that still have a dark tip on the bill (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Small part of a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese on meadows in a riverine wetland (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Part of a large flock of Greater White-fronted Geese on meadows in a riverine wetland (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Part of a large flock of Greater White-fronted Geese taking to the air (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Large flock of Greater White-fronted Geese congregating in preparation for their migration to northern Siberia
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Adult Greater White-fronted Geese, with a prominent white facial mask, together with first-winter birds just developing a facial mask (e.g. on the right) and juveniles, e.g. back left, that still have a dark tip on the bill (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Juvenile Greater White-fronted Geese, without a white facial mask yet, in flight (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

whfgoos_dw_20170320.m4a	albifrons (Poland)	Contact calls(?); flock	© DW
whfgoos_sc_20220216.m4a	albifrons (Serbia)	Contact calls(?); large flock	© SC

More Greater White-fronted Goose sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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