Greater White-fronted Goose

The Greater White-fronted Goose is a stocky brown goose that occurs across the Northern Hemisphere and in North America is found mainly west of the Mississippi. It sports white feathers around its pinkish orange bill, orange legs, and a white line down its side. These geese breed in arctic tundra and winter in large flocks in wetlands, lakes, and croplands. They can be confused with Graylag Geese, an often-domesticated species that can occur in small numbers around farms and parks in North America. Greater White-fronted Geese eat primarily sedges, grasses, berries, and plant tubers during the summer and seeds, grain, and grasses in the winter. They peck at vegetation and stems, plucking tubers, seeds, or grains from plants. In the water they peck at emergent vegetation and submerge their head to reach underwater plants.

Female Greater White-fronted Geese make a scrape in the ground and weave in surrounding grasses and sedges to form a bowl. They line the nest with plant material and down feathers. Greater White-fronted Geese are strong fliers that fly in single file or in "V" formation. They typically call in flight—a high-pitched laugh. When they are ready to come in for a landing they teeter from side to side similar to a falling leaf. They pick grain from fields, graze on grass, and nibble on underwater vegetation by tipping up like a dabbling duck. Outside of the breeding season, Greater White-fronted Geese are social birds and often gather in groups. On the breeding grounds they defend the nest site, threatening intruders in a bent-over posture with the neck stretched straight out.