Lesser White-fronted Goose

Anser erythropus (Linnaeus, 1758)

≈58 cmLength130 cmWingspan1.8 kgWeight

Smaller than Greater White-fronted Goose, it has golden-yellow around the eye and a white ring at the base of the bill, with white extending farther back onto the crown.

Busiest months: January–February · Most records: China, Sweden, Greece

Looks like Greater White-fronted Goose

Vulnerable

How to identify

Field marks

White ring at the base of the bill extends onto the crown
Golden-yellow around the eye
Gray-brown overall, with faint pale barring on the upperparts
Uppertail-coverts white, tail feathers black with white tips

Male, female and young

Sexes show no obvious differences apart from size.

Voice

Call sharper than that of Greater White-fronted Goose.

Similar species

Greater White-fronted Goose

This species is smaller, with white extending farther back on the head, golden-yellow around the eye and a sharper call.

Where and when it's recorded

Lesser White-fronted Goose has been recorded at 283 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 40 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

China Sweden Greece United Kingdom India Israel Netherlands Hungary

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erythropus) is a goose closely related to the larger greater white-fronted goose (A. albifrons). It breeds in the northernmost Palearctic, but it is a scarce breeder in Europe, with a reintroduction attempt in Fennoscandia.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia