Ross's goose

Ross's goose
Juvenile Ross's goose in California, USA
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Anser
Species: A. rossii
Binomial name
Anser rossii
(Cassin, 1861)
Synonyms

Chen rossii

Ross's goose swimming
Anser rossii - MHNT
Ross's goose colony in Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge

Ross's goose (Anser rossii) is a North American species of goose.

This goose breeds in northern Canada, mainly in the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary,[2] and winters much further south in the continent in the southern United States and occasionally northern Mexico.

The plumage of this species is white except for black wing tips. It is similar in appearance to a white-phase snow goose, but about 40% smaller. Other differences from the snow goose are that the bill is smaller in proportion to its body and lacks "black lips". The dark phase is extremely rare.

Ross's goose is a rare vagrant to Western Europe, but it is commonly kept in wildfowl collections, so the true frequency of wild birds is hard to ascertain. Escaped or feral specimens are encountered frequently, usually in the company of other feral geese such as Canada, greylag, and barnacle geese. However, individuals or small groups that seemed to be of natural origin have turned up in the Netherlands and Britain.

This species is named in honor of Bernard R. Ross, a Hudson's Bay Company factor at Fort Resolution in Canada's Northwest Territories.[3]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Anser rossii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Queen Maud Gulf
  3. ↑ "The Scabby-Nosed Wavey". time.com. December 16, 1940. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  • Sibley, David (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-45122-6.
  • Ross's Goose - Chen rossii - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
  • Ross's Goose Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  • "Ross's Goose media". Internet Bird Collection.
  • Ross's Goose photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
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