See also Grey Goose (disambiguation)

The waterfowl genus Anser includes all grey geese and sometimes the white geese. It belongs to the true geese and swan subfamily (Anserinae). The genus has a Holarctic distribution, with at least one species breeding in any open, wet habitats in the subarctic and cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in summer. Some also breed further south, reaching into warm temperate regions. They mostly migrate south in winter, typically to regions in the temperate zone between the January 0 °C (32 °F) to 5 °C (41 °F) isotherms.

The genus contains ten living species, which span nearly the whole range of true goose shapes and sizes. The largest is the Greylag Goose at 2.5–4.1 kg (5.5–9.0 lb) weight, and the smallest is the Ross's Goose at 1.2–1.6 kg (2.6–3.5 lb). All have legs and feet that are pink, or orange, and bills that are pink, orange, or black. All have white under- and upper-tail coverts, and several have some extent of white on their heads. The neck, body and wings are grey or white, with black or blackish primary—and also often secondary—remiges (pinions). The closely related "black" geese in the genus Branta differ in having black legs, and generally darker body plumage.^[1]

Systematics, taxonomy and evolution

Living species and taxonomy

• Swan Goose Anser cygnoides – sometimes separated in Cygnopsis
• Taiga Bean Goose Anser fabalis
• Tundra Bean Goose Anser serrirostris
• Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus
• Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons
  • Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser (albifrons) flavirostris
• Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus
• Greylag Goose Anser anser
• Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus – sometimes separated in Eulabeia

The following white geese are commonly separated as the genus Chen, with one of them sometimes split off in the genus Philacte. They cannot be distinguished anatomically from Anser geese although there is some evidence of a distinct lineage in evaluations of molecular data.^{[citation needed]} While some ornithological works traditionally include Chen within Anser,^[2] the AOU and the IUCN are notable authorities that treat them as separate.^[3]

• Snow Goose Chen caerulescens
• Ross's Goose Chen rossii
• Emperor Goose Chen canagicus – sometimes separated in Philacte

Some authorities also treat some subspecies as distinct species (notably Tundra Bean Goose^[4]) or as likely future species splits (notably Greenland White-fronted Goose).^[5]

Fossil record

Numerous fossil species have been allocated to this genus. As the true geese are near-impossible to assign osteologically to genus, this must be viewed with caution. It can be assumed with limited certainty that European fossils from known inland sites belong into Anser. As species related to the Canada Goose have been described from the Late Miocene onwards in North America too, sometimes from the same localities as the presumed grey geese, it casts serious doubt on the correct generic assignment of the supposed North American fossil geese.^[6] The Early Pliocene Branta howardae is one of the cases where doubts have been expressed about its generic assignment.^{[citation needed]} Similarly, Heterochen = Anser pratensis seems to differ profoundly from other species of Anser and might be placed into a different genus; alternatively, it might have been a unique example of a grey goose adapted for perching in trees.^[7]

• Anser atavus (Middle/Late Miocene of Bavaria, Germany) - sometimes in Anser arenosus (Big Sandy Late Miocene of Wickieup, USA)
• Anser arizonae (Big Sandy Late Miocene of Wickieup, USA)
• Anser cygniformis (Late Miocene of Steinheim, Germany)
• Anser oeningensis (Late Miocene of Oehningen, Switzerland)
• Anser thraceiensis (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Trojanovo, Bulgaria)
• Anser pratensis (Valentine Early Pliocene of Brown County, USA) - possibly separable in Heterochen
• Anser pressus (Glenns Ferry Late Pliocene of Hagerman, USA) - formerly Chen pressa
• Anser thompsoni (Pliocene of Nebraska)
• Anser azerbaidzhanicus (Early? Pleistocene of Binagady, Azerbaijan)

The Maltese swan Cygnus equitum was occasionally placed into Anser, and Anser condoni is a synonym of Cygnus paloregonus.^[8] A goose fossil from the Early-Middle Pleistocene of El Salvador is highly similar to Anser.^[9] Given its age it is likely to belong to an extant genus, and biogeography indicates Branta as other likely candidate.

?Anser scaldii (Late Miocene of Antwerp, Belgium) may be a shelduck.

Relationship with humans and conservation status

Two species in the genus are of major commercial importance, having been domesticated as poultry: European domesticated geese are derived from the Greylag Goose, and Chinese and some African domesticated geese are derived from the Swan Goose.

Most species are hunted to a greater or lesser extent; in some areas, some populations are endangered by over-hunting. Most notably, the Lesser White-fronted Goose is listed by IUCN Red List as Vulnerable throughout its range, and due to overhunting and rampant habitat destruction, the population of the Swan Goose is on the verge of collapsing, leading to a listing as Endangered.^[10]

Other species have benefited from reductions in hunting since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with most species in western Europe and North America showing marked increases in response to protection^{[citation needed]}. In some cases, this has led to conflicts with farming, when large flocks of geese graze crops in the winter.^{[citation needed]}

Footnotes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anser

• American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) (1998): Check-list of North American Birds: the species of birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands (7th ed., 41st supplement). American Ornithologists' Union and Allen Press, Washington, D.C. and Lawrence, Kansas, USA. ISBN 1-891276-00-X PDF fulltext
• Banks, Richard C.; Chesser, R. Terry; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L.; Kratter, Andrew W.; Lovette, Irby J.; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr; Rising, James D. & Stotz, Douglas F. (2007): Forty-eighth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds. Auk 124(3): 1109-1115. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[1109:FSTTAO]2.0.CO;2 PDF fulltext
• Brodkorb, Pierce (1964): Catalogue of Fossil Birds: Part 2 (Anseriformes through Galliformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 8(3): 195-335. PDF or JPEG fulltext
• Carboneras, Carles (1992): Family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese and Swans). In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds.): Handbook of Birds of the World (Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks): 536-629, plates 40-50. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-10-5
• Cisneros, Juan Carlos (2005): New Pleistocene vertebrate fauna from El Salvador. [English with Portuguese abstract] Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 8(3): 239-255. PDF fulltext
• Cramp, S. (1977): The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-857358-8
• Dudley, Steve P.; Gee, Mike; Kehoe, Chris; Melling, Tim M. & The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) (2006): The British List: A Checklist of Birds of Britain (7th edition). Ibis 148(3): 526–563. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00603.x PDF fulltext
• Fox, A.D. & Stroud, D.A. (2002): Greenland White-fronted Goose. Birds of the Western Palearctic Update 4(2): 65-88.
• IUCN (2007): 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• Livezey, Bradley C. (1986): A phylogenetic analysis of recent anseriform genera using morphological characters. Auk 103(4): 737-754. PDF fulltext
• Madge, Steve & Burn, Hilary (1987): Wildfowl : an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7470-2201-1
• Short, Lester L. (1970): A new anseriform genus and species from the Nebraska Pliocene. Auk 87(3): 537-543. DjVu fulltext PDF fulltext
• van den Berg, Arnoud B. (2007): Lijst van Nederlandse vogelsoorten ["List of Dutch bird taxa²]. [Dutch and English] PDF fulltext

The Bean Goose is a goose that breeds in northern Europe and Asia. It has two distinct varieties, one inhabiting taiga habitats and one inhabiting tundra. These are recognised as separate species by the American Ornithologists' Union, but are considered a single species by other authorities, such as the British Ornithologists' Union. It is migratory and winters further south in Europe and Asia.

Description

The length ranges from 68 to 90 centimetres (27–35 in), wingspan from 140 to 174 centimetres (55–69 in) and weight from 1.7–4 kilograms (3.7–8.8 lb).^[2] In the nominate subspecies, males average 3.2 kg (7.1 lb) and females average 2.84 kg (6.3 lb).^[2] The bill is black at the base and tip, with an orange band across the middle; the legs and feet are also bright orange.

The upper wing-coverts are dark brown, as in the White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) and the Lesser White-fronted Goose (A. erythropus), but differing from these in having narrow white fringes to the feathers.

The voice is a loud honking, higher pitched in the smaller subspecies.

The closely related Pink-footed Goose (A. brachyrhynchus) has the bill short, bright pink in the middle, and the feet also pink, the upper wing-coverts being nearly of the same bluish-grey as in the Greylag Goose. In size and bill structure, it is very similar to Anser fabalis rossicus, and in the past was often treated as a sixth subspecies of Bean Goose.

Taxonomy

The English and scientific names of the Bean Goose come from its habit in the past of grazing in bean field stubbles in winter (Latin faba, a bean).

Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis sensu stricto) on background, Tundra Bean Goose (Anser serrirostris) on foreground and Greylag Goose (Anser anser) on the right, at Spaarndam, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands

A flock of Tundra Bean Geese

There are five subspecies, with complex variation in body size and bill size and pattern; generally, size increases from north to south and from west to east. Some ornithologists (including AOU 2007) split them into two species based on breeding habitat, whether in forest bogs in the subarctic taiga, or on the arctic tundra.

Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis sensu stricto) (Latham, 1787)

• A. f. fabalis (Latham, 1787). Scandinavia east to the Urals. Large; bill long and narrow, with broad orange band. Anser fabalis fabalis is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
• A. f. johanseni (Delacour, 1951). West Siberian taiga. Large; bill long and narrow, with narrow orange band.
• A. f. middendorffii (Severtzov, 1873). East Siberian taiga. Very large; bill long and stout, with narrow orange band.

Tundra Bean Goose (Anser serrirostris, if treated as a distinct species) (Swinhoe, 1871)

• A. s. rossicus (Buturlin, 1933). Northern Russian tundra east to the Taimyr Peninsula. Small; bill short and stubby, with narrow orange band. Anser fabalis rossicus is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
• A. s. serrirostris (Swinhoe, 1871). East Siberian tundra. Large; bill long and stout, with narrow orange band.

Distribution

This section requires expansion.

The Bean Goose is a rare winter visitor to Britain. There are two regular wintering flocks of Taiga Bean Goose, in the Yare Valley, Norfolk and the Avon Valley, Scotland. A formerly regular flock in Dumfries and Galloway no longer occurs there. The Tundra Bean Goose has no regular wintering sites, but is found in small groups among other grey goose species – among the most regular localities are WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire and Holkham Marshes, Norfolk.

References

Further reading

• Sangster, George and Gerald J. Oreel (1996) Progress in taxonomy of Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese Dutch Birding 18(6): 310-316
• Oates, John (1997) Identification of Taiga Bean Goose and Tundra Bean Goose Birding World 10(11): 421-6
• Ruokonen, M., K. Litvin and T. Aarvak (2008) Taxonomy of the bean goose - pink-footed goose Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48:554-562
• Brown, Dan (2010) Identification and taxonomy of bean geese Birding World 23(3):110-121