Greater White-fronted Goose

Anser albifrons

The dusky and cackling geese at the Refuge get all the press, but have you ever seen or heard the Greater White-fronted Goose as it migrates through our area every fall?

From September through November, look for Greater White-fronted Geese foraging in agricultural fields or resting on lakes and ponds. This vocal species is often heard first by our Refuge Deputy Project Leader Eric Anderson, who has marked their arrival every fall since 1998, when he hears them over the Vancouver area as they arrive. He can always hear them, he says, because it’s the time of year when the windows are still open from the day’s heat, so it’s easy to “be awakened by these early migrants and their high pitched squealing.”

For him, this means fall is here.

He has noted their arrival on these dates: 9/8/1998, 9/6/200, 9/15/2003, 9/17/2007, 9/1/2010, 8/24/2009, 9/2/2011, 9/25/2012, 9/13/2013, 9/23/2014, 9/1/2015, & 9/16/2018. So they are set to arrive soon. Anderson suggests you play at home! If he can hear them in the city, anyone should be able to hear them along our migration corridor. Listen to the night skies for an early detection of the Greater White-fronted Goose. In flight, Greater White-fronted Geese sound like they are laughing—a high-pitched yelping call, consisting of two or three notes. They also give a high-pitched squeak that trails off at the end. Listen to a variety of Greater White-fronted Goose sounds here.

If you happen to see them, adults are mostly brown with white feathering around the base of a pink/orange bill. Black barring marks their belly and the undertail is white. In flight, a white “U” at the base of their tail is visible. On the ground, a thin white line stretches across their sides. Juveniles lack the belly banding and white feathering around the bill. Both juveniles and adults have orang-ish legs.

Like the other species of geese, 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.

Did you know? A smaller, but very similar goose is found in northern Asia and Europe. It is known as the Lesser White-fronted Goose, which is the reason our goose is known as “Greater.” Dwarf species seem to have appeared repeatedly in a variety of geese, including Ross’s and Cackling Geese.

-Samantha Zeiner, Administrative Assistant Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge