Species:

Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus)

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

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Length (cm):
53-66
90-98
Wingspan (cm):
120-135
175-195
Weight (gram):
1600-2500
1020-2073
Size group:
Bigger than a crow
Bigger than a crow
Main Texts:
Appearance:

Adults with white front of head reaching crown, black markings on belly and obvious, swollen yellow eye-ring. Juveniles lacks white forehead and black markings on belly. The yellow eye-ring is also less noticeable. Note that White-fronted Goose may also show faint eye-ring, limited belly-markings and extended white front to head. Leaves a more "pure" impression than White-fronted, with evenly coloured plumage, rounded body, short neck, short bill and steep forehead. Primaries are longer than in other geese, and may extend past tail.

Sound:

Contact call a characteristic, trisyllabic, yelping "ka-dyl-lyt". First syllable often with a goose-like timbre, and second and third a continuous clearer sound, with a rapid lowering of pitch between syllables. Much higher pitched than other grey geese.

Contact call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-photo:Stefan Berndtsson, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Sibylle Stofer, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Fenners1984, Licence,Link.

CC-sound:Antero Lindholm. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/243944.

Appearance:

Very large, mostly unmistakable bird. Grey upperparts, white underparts and yellow/yellowish bill. Keeps neck retracted when flying (as opposed to crane). May be mistaken for Purple Heron, but back of neck grey, not brown. Bill heavy and dagger-shaped. Neck thicker and less angular than in Purple Heron. Unmarked cheeks.

Sound:

Quite vocal. Most common call a short, far reaching and extremely harsh, rasping sound. At breeding ground a varied repertoire of harsh and clattering sounds.

Flight call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Similar species (image):
Silhouette Group:
Duck-like
Silhouette
Heron-like
Silhouette
Several different images of the species
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Several different sounds of the species
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file