Beak of the Week - Greater White-fronted Goose

Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)

Family: Anatidae

Nothing quite screams January like the Greater White-fronted Goose. Perhaps not, but they do spend the winter season on the Upper Texas Coast and they are rather noisy. They start arriving from their tundra breeding grounds in October and leave again around March and April.

Greater White-fronted Geese are smaller than Canada Geese and have bright orange legs. They are brownish-gray with white undertail coverts, black barring on their belly, and white feathers around their pink bill. In fact, the scientific name albifrons means “white forehead” in Latin. However, juveniles lack this namesake white front as well as the black barring. As they are often seen flying overhead, it is helpful to remember a few in-flight field marks. They have a pale gray upper wing, a white tail tip, and a black tail and rump with a distinctive white “U” shape. Greater White-fronted Geese are very similar in appearance to a Eurasian species, the Lesser White-fronted Goose, which is smaller and has a yellow eye ring.

These geese are found in both North America and Europe. The North American

variety, which are slightly darker, migrate from northern Canada and Greenland all the way down to Central Mexico. They prefer open habitats, such as farmlands, marshes, prairies, and ponds, where they often associate with other species of goose. While swimming, Greater White-fronted Geese forage on vegetation in a similar manner as dabbling ducks.

Like other geese, they fly in large, noisy flocks in a “V” formation. They also form strong pair and family bonds. The young usually stay with their parents for at least a year and help defend the new nest before they begin to breed themselves.

By Phoebe Honscheid, Conservation Technician, Houston Audubon
📸 Photos by Greg Lavaty

---

Visit our Bird Gallery to read about other Texas birds!

Comments

How to DIY a Dripper for birds

Are you running out of home projects to keep busy during the quarantine? Here’s one my hubby made for me that you can try: a DYI Dripper. I’ve long wanted a bird dripper to complement my yard’s wildlife habitat, and with spring migrants on the way, I was keen to provide a drip that will attract new birds that don’t visit feeders. I had a problem though. There is no water line or power source near my feeders. The idea of stringing a hose or wire across the driveway just isn’t practical. Enter the engineer. My husband thought about the location and the limitations for a bit, and came up with the concept of sourcing water for a dripper off the sprinkler system. By using a toilet tank that fills every time the sprinklers run, water can be constantly available for the drip. I nixed the idea of a toilet tank sitting in my yard though, so he made some aesthetic modifications by installing a toilet tank float inside a 5 gallon bucket hidden inside a custom wooden box with a handsome copper p...

Beak of the Week - Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron ( Nyctanassa violacea ) Family: Ardeidae Our Beak of the Week is the official Bird of Houston , the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron! This seemingly hunch-backed bird can be a difficult one to spot. Both species of North American night-herons, yellow-crowned and black-crowned, forage mainly at night and spend most of the day hidden among branches near a body of water. These two birds can be differentiated easily by their plumage on and around their head. The most obvious difference is stated in their names: Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have a yellow crown and Black-crowned Night-Herons have a black crown. But that’s not the only difference! Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have a black head and face with a distinct thick white cheek stripe, whereas Black-crowned Night-Herons have a black head with gray on their face that extends down the whole front of the body. Yellow-crowned Night Herons also have a gray front and neck, but it contrasts greatly with their facial patter...

Beak of the Week - Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird ( Archilochus colubris ) Family: Trochilidae Did you know that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are able to fly in all 6 directions with wing beats of 53 times per a second? Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are bright emerald or golden-green on the back and crown with gray-white underparts. Males have a brilliant iridescent red throat while females and immatures have fine, dark throat streaking. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of red or orange tubular flowers as well as at hummingbird feeders and sometimes tree sap. Hummingbirds also catch insects in midair or pull them out of spider webs. In preparation for their migration, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds double their weight from 3 grams to over 6 grams prior to departing. In the fall, millions of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will pass through Texas on their migration to points south of the border with many crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. They arrive from breeding grounds as far away as Nova Scotia...

Houston Audublog

Search This Blog