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CoastalHuge · 3.5 kg
ID tip
The swan goose is large and long-necked for its genus, wild birds being 81–94 cm (32–37 in) long (the longest Anser goose) and weighing 2.8–3.5 kg (6.2–7.7 lb) or more (the second-heaviest Anser, after the greylag goose A. anser). The sexes are similar, although the male is larger, with a proportionally longer bill and neck; in fact, the largest females are barely as large as the smallest males. Typical measurements of the wing are 45–46 cm (18–18 in) in males, 37.5–44 cm (14.8–17.3 in) in females; the bill is about 8.7–9.8 cm (3.4–3.9 in) long in males and 7.5–8.5 cm (3.0–3.3 in) in females.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Swan Goose
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is January, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Swan Goose
The map shades 40 countries with regular records, and 12 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Canada, India, Australia, Norway, Colombia, Argentina, Denmark, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Aruba, North Korea, Uzbekistan.
About the Swan Goose
The swan goose is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, Northeast China, and the Russian Far East. It is migratory and winters mainly in central and eastern China. Vagrant birds are encountered in Japan and Korea, and more rarely in Kazakhstan, Laos, coastal Siberia, Taiwan, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Lesser White-fronted GooseAnser erythropusThe two white-fronted goose species differ little other than in size (the lesser, at 53–66 cm (21–26 in) length and with a 120–135 cm (47–53 in) wingspan, is not much bigger than a mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)), but both may be readily distinguished from the greylag goose by their bright orange legs and their mouse-coloured upper wing-coverts.
Emperor GooseAnser canagicusThe emperor goose has a stout blue-gray body, with spots of black and white, which cause it to have a "scaled appearance".
Bar-headed GooseAnser indicusThe bird is pale grey and is easily distinguished from any of the other grey geese of the genus Anser by the black bars on its otherwise white head.
Side by side: Emperor Goose vs Swan Goose · Bar-headed Goose vs Swan Goose · Lesser White-fronted Goose vs Swan Goose
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