white-fronted goose

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white-fronted goose

bird

Also known as: Anser albifrons, laughing goose, speckle-belly, specklebelly

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Also called:: Specklebelly, orLaughing Goose

Related Topics:: Anser

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white-fronted goose, (species Anser albifrons), rather small, dark-bodied goose with white forehead, yellow bill, and irregular black patches on the belly; it is classified in the tribe Anserini of the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). Breeding in the Arctic, the white-fronted goose, which exists in four or five races, is the most widely distributed of the so-called gray geese (see goose). It migrates as far south as Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea, India, and Japan. The European white-fronted goose (Anser a. albifrons) winters in western Europe, the British Isles, and Central Asia. The largest form, the tule goose (A. a. gambelli), winters only in the Sacramento Valley, California.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.