California's Great Goose Lineup: Greater White-fronted Geese

While Sandhill Cranes seem to get all the glory and praise this time of year (for example, Merced NWR is hosting Crane Day on October 19th, and November 2nd is Lodi's annual Crane Festival), plenty of other species worth mentioning are turning up all over our local wetlands and farmlands these days as well, including a lineup of Arctic-breeding geese.

During the fall and winter, a vast assortment of birds (largely waterfowl) which have spent the breeding months far to the north return, as they have done for millennia, to overwintering grounds in the fertile Great Central Valley of California.  Today, of course, this habitat has been severely reduced.  But some places have been mercifully preserved as National Wildlife Refuges as well as a few state and private preserves, and when the migrants arrive, these patches of wild land absolutely fill to the brim with life.  And geese probably contribute the greatest amount in terms of sheer mass to this great winter bird bonanza.


One of the earliest species of goose to arrive in the fall is the Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons).  Greater White-fronted Geese are large, gray-brown birds that may be mistaken for domestic greylag geese.  To distinguish the wild species, note the Greater White-fronted Goose's tell-tale "white front," which refers to a patch of white feathers between the base of the bill and the eyes.  Also notice the variable black barring on the belly and a thin white line down its side.


During the summer breeding months, Greater White-fronted Geese nest on open tundra, along the coast as well as inland, from Alaska east to the Hudson Bay.  Breeding generally begins when birds are in their third year; pairs form long-term bonds and remain together throughout the year, returning to the same breeding and wintering grounds each year.  A fortunate Greater-white Fronted Goose can live for twenty years or more.

Greater White-fronts mingle with Snow Geese at Merced NWR

Female Greater White-fronted Geese build nests on the ground, often concealed in grasses and low shrubs, constructed by creating a shallow scrape in the earth, and lined with grasses and their own downy feathers.  The single clutch varies in size from one to eight eggs, which are incubated for three to four weeks before the downy young emerge.  Young geese leave the nest within 24 hours and are cared for by both parents, who lead them to feeding grounds where the young feed themselves.  By the time they are seven or eight weeks old, young Greater White-fronted Geese begin taking to the skies in preparation for their first great migration flight.  Young geese stay with their parents during their first year of life, and they may remain in loosely associated family groups for several years.


In the winter, geese spend their days foraging for grain in agricultural fields (many of which are planted and managed by or in cooperation with the National Wildlife Refuge system specifically as a food source for overwintering geese and cranes).  They also feed on grasses and marsh vegetation above and below the surface of the water.  At night, they fly in from afar to roost together in the relative safety of the wetland's open water.

During the non-breeding season, Greater White-fronted Geese are social birds, flying in neat formations and calling to each other in characteristic goose language: a rather squeaky, high-pitched type of "honk" that may be described as a bark or a laugh.  They gather together in large, noisy flocks, often associating and mixing with other species of geese as they forage and roost together around wetlands.

Greater White-fronted Geese at Merced NWR (with Sandhill Cranes in the background, and one White-faced Ibis)

They may not be as captivating as Sandhill Cranes, as striking as pure-white Snow and Ross's Geese, or have as powerful of a conservation story as Cackling Geese, but Greater White-fronted Geese are certainly still worth noticing!  I encourage you to head out to one of our local wetlands this fall and see California's great goose lineup for yourself!

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