BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Anser albifrons | Greater White-Fronted Goose 



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
Pair formation - Occurs in the fall through spring.  The majority are
paired during their second winter.  Pair bonds are lifelong and
monogamous [20,24].

Age at sexual maturity - The greater white-fronted goose becomes
sexually mature at 3 years of age [5].

Nesting - Greater white-fronted geese initiate nesting in late May or
early June [5].

Clutch size and incubation - Clutch sizes range from four to seven eggs
[5,20,24].  Incubation lasts 26 to 28 days [20,24].  The goslings leave
the nest within 24 hours and are led to the nearest water [5].

Fledging and molting - Goslings fledge in about 45 days, during which
period the adults molt and are flightless.  The adults are able to fly
about the same time as or shortly after the young have fledged, and
leave the breeding areas soon afterward [24].  Greater white-fronted
geese remain in families during the fall, winter, and spring, and into
the nesting season [5].  Yearlings remain with their parents even during
the nesting activities [5].  Breeders generally molt from July through
August.  Nonbreeders molt early in June [20].

Life span - The maximum recorded longevity of the greater white-
fronted goose is 20.3 years [3].


PREFERRED HABITAT : 
Breeding habitat - During the breeding season the greater white-fronted
goose primarily inhabits the borders of shallow marshes and lakes,
riverbanks and islands, deltas, dry knolls, and hills near rivers and
ponds in Arctic tundra.  The tule white-fronted goose may be more
dependent on heavy brush or woody vegetation for nesting than are the
other subspecies [2,4,24].

Nesting habitat - The greater white-fronted goose typically nests in
depressions on the ground in tall grass bordering tidal sloughs or in
sedge marshes, usually within 300 feet (91 m) of water, or on hummocks
along rivers, streams, and lakes [8,20].

Winter habitat - In winter, the greater white-fronted goose uses areas
of extensive shallow water, croplands, pastures, open terrain with
numerous ponds, and inland and coastal marshes.  Cropland and
pastureland are primary winter habitat, while freshwater marshes are
secondary habitat [14,20].  On its winter grounds the greater
white-fronted goose forages more efficently in areas where the
vegetation is relatively short; however, it does forage within natural
wetlands containing vegetation of various species composition, height,
and density [14].  Areas used during migration are much the same as the
winter habitat [20].  The greater white-fronted goose is also often
found in flooded fields during migration [2].


COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
The greater white-fronted goose uses marshlands mainly for resting and
roosting between field-feeding, and as escape cover.  Tall emergent
vegetation provides shelter and cover in addition to providing food.
The agricultural habitats used by the greater white-fronted goose during
winter and migration provide good visibility [14].  On breeding areas
the ground cover is typically low-scrub willows and/or birches,
heathers, sedges, and grasses [20].


FOOD HABITS : 
The greater white-fronted goose feeds mostly on vegetable matter such as
grasses, sedges, aquatic plants, berries, and grains [14,20].  It
occasionally eats insects and mollusks [20].  Palmer [20] reported that
in Alaska the greater white-fronted goose feeds primarily on berries of
Ericaceae spp. during the spring and fall and on young grass shoots,
aquatic insects, and larvae during the summer.

The greater white-fronted goose feeds on the leaves, stems, seeds, or
rhizomes of cattail, spike rush, cordgrass, horsetail, forbs and grasses
including white clover (Trifolium repens), creeping buttercup
(Ranunculus repens), common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale),
barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crusgalli), barley (Hordeum secalunum),
perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), bulbous foxtail (Alopecurus
bulbosus), carpetbent grass (Agrostis stolonifera), panic grass (Panicum
spp.), and Paspalum spp. [14].  During the prenesting season on the
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska, the greater white-fronted goose often
feeds on pendent grass (Arctophila fulva) shoots, arrowgrass (Triglochin
palustris) bulbs, and crowberry [7].

Cereal grains, grasses, and marsh plants are primary foods of the
greater white-fronted goose during winter, while seeds, roots, and
tubers are secondary foods [14].  Rice and soybeans are among the waste
grains consumed during the winter.  During late winter, newly sprouted
grasses and forbs on cultivated fields also provide food for the greater
white-fronted goose [14].  Kortright [15] found that in Kentucky the
greater white-fronted goose feeds on beechnuts and acorns along margins
of ponds.  In the fields of Kentucky this goose eats seeds of corn and
grass blades [15].  In California, the greater white-fronted goose feeds
extensively on the seeds of rice and barley [5].


PREDATORS : 
The following predators commonly destroy nests of the greater
white-fronted goose:  foxes (Alopex lagopus and Vulpes vulpes), jaegers
(Stercorarius parasiticus and S. longicaudus), and glaucous gulls (Larus
hyperboreus) [10,11].  Information on predators of adult greater
white-fronted goose is lacking in the literature.


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
The greater white-fronted goose is an important game bird.  The
population of this species has declined in recent years partially due to
heavy harvesting [11].

The greater white-fronted goose is sensitive to aircraft
disturbance.  It is particularly alarmed by low-flying single
engine aircraft during molting [10].

Flooding can cause greater white-fronted goose nest failure.  On the
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska in 1978, 13 of 25 greater white-fronted
goose nests flooded were destroyed, while only 3 out out of 19 nests
that had not been flooded were destroyed [11].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Anser albifrons | Greater White-Fronted Goose