Field geese
| Field geese | ||||||||||||
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Greylag goose ( anser anser ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Anser | ||||||||||||
| Brisson , 1760 |
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The field geese ( Anser ), sometimes also called real geese , are a genus of real geese (Anserini) belonging to the family of duck birds (Anatidae). This genus comprises ten species , including the most famous geese species in Central Europe .
This genus also includes the domestic goose as a domesticated form of the gray goose , partly genetically mixed with the humped goose , which in turn is a breeding form of the swan goose .
Appearance
All species belonging to the field geese genus are large birds with short legs and long necks. The beak is strong and almost as high at the root as it is long. The jaw edges are slightly bulged so that the lamellar teeth are visible from the outside. The beak nail is very large and runs the entire width of the beak. The nostrils are roughly in the middle of the beak.
The feathers are close to the neck. They are somewhat elongated and arranged in such a way that the neck looks a bit furrowed. The wings are long and pointed. The third swing arm is the longest swing arm spring. The tail has between 16 and 20 feathers.
distribution
Field geese are widespread in the Holarctic. They only occur outside of the Holarctic in winter and on the train .
Systematics
Sometimes the snow goose and closely related species are separated into a separate genus, Chen . A distinction is made between ten or eleven species (depending on whether the Tundra Bean Goose ( Anser serrirostris ) is viewed as a separate species):
Anser
The genus consists of the following seven species:
| German name | Scientific name | distribution | Hazard level Red List of IUCN |
Remarks | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White-fronted goose |
Anser albifrons ( Scopoli , 1769) |
Breeds in arctic regions from northern European Russia to eastern Siberia, arctic North America and Greenland. |
 ( Least Concern - not at risk)
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5 subspecies: 65 to 76 inches long. Dark gray-brown in color with a mostly light underside and irregular black transverse spots on the belly. Adult birds with white blazes. Beak pink, feet orange. |
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| Little goose |
Anser erythropus ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Breeds in the north of Scandinavia |
 ( Vulnerable - endangered)
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monotypically reach a body length of 53 to 66 centimeters. It has a wingspan of 120 to 135 cm and weighs 1.4 to 2.2 kg. The dwarf goose is similar in habit and color to the European white-fronted goose, but is smaller and darker. |
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| Greylag goose |
Anser anser ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Breeding bird in Northern and Eastern Europe and Asia. Found all over Europe during the train. |
( Least Concern - not at risk)
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75 to 90 inches long. Lighter than the other gray geese. Fore wings conspicuously light, the abdomen usually has strong black spots. The bill and feet are orange. |
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| Short-billed goose |
Anser brachyrhynchus Baillon , 1834 |
Breeding areas in Greenland , Iceland and Svalbard , winter quarters on the British Isles , in Belgium and the Netherlands , in the coastal areas of northern Germany and in Denmark . |
( Least Concern - not at risk)
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monotypically 66 centimeters long. Very similar to the Bean Goose (Anser fabalis). Beak short, with pink ribbon. Pink feet, darker head, on the back lightened gray, otherwise gray-brown striped plumage. |
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| Bean goose or reed goose |
Anser fabalis ( Latham , 1787) |
Breeds in the taiga and lichen tundra from northern Scandinavia in the west to eastern Siberia . Winter areas are in Central Europe from southern Sweden to the Croatian Adriatic coast . |
( Least Concern - not at risk)
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5 subspecies 65 to 90 cm long. Plumage gray-brown, dark brown on the neck and the angular head. Breast and belly light brown, colored whitish towards the tail, wings dark brown. Beak black at base and tip with orange marking in between. Orange feet. |
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| Swan goose |
Anser cygnoides ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Breeding areas in Siberia and Mongolia , winters in China . A free-living population exists in the Rhine-Neckar region . |
( Vulnerable - endangered)
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monotypical brown, very large goose with a long, dark beak, the base of which is lined with white. The straight ridge line of the beak is characteristic of the wild form. The domestic goose breed Emder Gans is also known as the swan goose. |
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| Bar-headed Goose or Indian Goose |
Anser indicus ( Latham , 1790) |
Breeding areas in the high plains of Central Asia , in Southeast Russia , Tibet , parts of northern India , Mongolia and the People's Republic of China , wintering areas from the southern Himalayas in the northwest and central southern India , in Pakistan , Bangladesh , Nepal and Burma to the high altitudes of Tibet. |
( Least Concern - not at risk)
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monotypically 70 to 75 centimeters long. Two eponymous black-brown horizontal stripes on the otherwise white head. Body plumage light silver gray, underside pure white, flanks a little darker, wing covers lightened, flight feathers deep black. Beak Light to orange-yellow beak, 4.5 to 6.5 centimeters long, eyes dark brown, feet orange. |
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Chen
The genus consists of the following three types:
| German name | Scientific name | distribution | Hazard level Red List of IUCN |
Remarks | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor Goose |
Chen canagicus or Anser canagicus ( Sevastianov , 1802) |
Northern Siberia to northwest Alaska and the offshore islands of the North Sea and Bering Sea . Do not breed in colonies. |
 ( Near Threatened - potentially endangered, warning list)
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monotypically 66 cm long, relatively short legs. Seared plumage, white head. Both sexes look the same. |
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| Snow goose |
Chen caerulescens or Anser caerulescens ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Breeding bird in northwestern Greenland , northern Canada and northeastern Siberia. Winter quarters in the United States and Europe. |
( Least Concern - not at risk)
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2 subspecies: Great snow goose ( A. c. Atlanticus ) Small snow goose ( A. c. Caerulescens ) 60 to 75 cm long. Appears in two phases of color: except for the black hand wings and the ash-gray coverts snow-white (white morph) or blue-gray except for the white head and neck and the light and white rear abdomen (dark morph). |
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| Pygmy snow goose |
Chen rossii or Anser rossii Cassin , 1861 |
Breeding areas in northwest Canada to Wrangel Island in Siberia , winter quarters in California , New Mexico and the highlands of Mexico . |
( Least Concern - not at risk)
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monotypically 53 to 66 centimeters long. The snow goose ( Chen caerulescens ) is very similar, but is significantly smaller and has a shorter, pink-colored beak with small bluish protrusions at the base, pink-colored feet. Dark color morphs possible. |
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See also: farm animal
literature
- MJ Brisson, Ornithologie I, Paris (1760), pp. 58: 6, 261 - First description of the genus by Mathurin-Jacques Brisson from 1760
- Erich Rutschke: Wild geese, way of life - protection - use, Berlin: Parey, 1997
- H. Kolbe, Die Entenvögel der Welt, 5th edition, Eugen Ulmer Verlag (1999) (not viewed) - ISBN 3-8001-7442-1
- National Geographic Society, Field Guide to the Birds of North America, p. 22; 2006
Web links
- Anser anser - Graugans / Gray-lag Goose ( Memento from June 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )