Video made by avibirds team
Description
It has a length of 70-86 cm and a weight of 1400-3300 g. The width of the wings is 130-165 cm. Longevity: 18 years.
White-Fronted Geese have a white band at the base of their bill, which is where this species gets its name. Underneath the body is whitish, with dark-brown transverse strips with irregular shape. The underside of the neck has dark longitudinal stripes. On the forehead there is a white spot that starts at the base of the nose and does not reach the dorsal line. The legs are yellow-orange and their beak has a pinkish tint. There is no differentiation in plumage between males and females, although males are usually larger than females. Young birds are lighter, without a white spot on the forehead. The body below is light, without transverse strips.
He makes a faster and higher gobble than the other geese. Click-to-click, Cuu-Liu, which sometimes resembles laughter and has been called “Laughing Goose”.
Distribution and Habitat
The Great White-Fronted Goose nests in the northernmost parts of Europe and Asia, North America and the Islands of the Ice Ocean, inhabiting wetlands of the Tundra and Lesotundra along the seashore and inland waters. Winters in the southern regions of Europe and Asia, but also fly to North Africa – Egypt.
White-Fronted Goose is a widespread species, with a large number, with 200-500 thousand birds wintering in Bulgaria every year. The most numerous are its flocks in the plains of the country and around the Danube, the big inland rivers and the Black Sea coast. Large flocks usually inhabit areas planted with autumn crops, near rivers, lakes, marshes and artificial ponds, freezing in winter. This species, in the case of mass appearance, is capable of completely compromising the harvest of some agricultural areas. In Bulgaria it is mainly wintering in Shabla and Durankulak Lakes, Ovcharitsa Dam, Srebarna Reserve, Malko Sharkovo Dam and Bourgas Lakes.
Feeding
The main food of the White-Fronted Goose is tender parts of the green plants. During wintering the geese are attached to the places where they eat. At dawn, as scheduled, they go out for food, lunch at the water, then rest, set their feathers, and start eating again in the afternoon. Before sunset, they come back to the water basin.
Breeding
The Great White-Fronted Goose nests in the open tundra, near marshes, lakes and rivers both along the coast and inland. The nest is a small cave on the ground, rarely covered with moss, grass and fluff. It is on various edges, overgrown with grass and sometimes even outdoors. The female lays 3 to 7 white to pale-orange eggs. Incubates only female for 26-28 days. Protective or even military during the marriage period, the White-Fronted Goose becomes social after breeding.
Conservation Status
According to the biology of the bird, it is allowed for hunting in Bulgaria from 1 October to 31 January. It is forbidden to hunt in the 700-meter strip around the Shabla and Durankulak Lakes, the Ovcharitsa Dam, the Srebarna Reserve and the Bourgas Lakes.
