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Greater White-fronted Goose

Anser albifrons

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl
Greater White-fronted Goose, photographed by Bill Levine

Photo: Bill Levine · iNaturalist · CC-BY 4.0 (licence)

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About the Greater White-fronted Goose

Medium-sized goose with extensive range across the Northern Hemisphere. On adults note bright orange legs, white face, and variable amount of black splotching on belly. Bill color varies from orange to pinkish. Immatures lack white face and black on belly and have duller orange legs and bill. Superficially similar to domestic barnyard geese but smaller without the enormous pot-bellied appearance of domestic birds. Bill color is helpful to separate from both species of Bean-Goose and Pink-footed Goose. Also compare with very similar Lesser White-fronted Goose in Europe and Asia, which is smaller and more compact, and has a stubby bill and yellow eyering. Breeds in tundra and taiga habitats; winters in fields, agricultural areas, and wetlands. Usually found in flocks, sometimes mixed with other species of geese.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 94 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

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