Greater White-fronted Goose

Anser albifrons

The greater white-fronted goose is a species of goose, closely related to the smaller lesser white-fronted goose. The greater white-fronted goose is migratory, breeding in northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and Russia, and winters farther south in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill; its specific name albifrons comes from the Latin albus "white" and frons "forehead". In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it has been known as the white-fronted goose; in North America, it is known as the greater white-fronted goose, and this name is also increasingly adopted internationally. Even more distinctive are the salt-and-pepper markings on the breast of adult birds, which is why the goose is colloquially called the "specklebelly" in North America. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 828,940 times across 108 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 16°C (typically 6 to 19°C, from 37 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 48°N in January to 57°N in March, about 1,000 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.