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Lesser white-fronted goose
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{{short description|Species of bird}} {{speciesbox | name = Lesser white-fronted goose | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Anser erythropus'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22679886A132300164 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22679886A132300164.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | image = Anser erythropus.jpg | genus = Anser | species = erythropus | authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]) | synonyms = ''Anas erythropus'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}} | range_map = AnserErythropusIUCNver2018 2.png | range_map_caption = Range of ''A. erythropus''{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Passage|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#FF00FF|Vagrant (seasonality uncertain)|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#AA7FFF|Possibly Extant (passage)|outline=gray}} }} The '''lesser white-fronted goose''' ('''''Anser erythropus''''') is a [[goose]] closely related to the larger [[white-fronted goose|greater white-fronted goose]] (''A. albifrons''). It breeds in the northernmost [[Palearctic]], but it is a scarce breeder in [[Europe]], with a [[Species reintroduction|reintroduction]] attempt in [[Fennoscandia]]. == Taxonomy == The lesser white-fronted goose was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Anas erythropus''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=123 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727028 }}</ref><ref name=mayr>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=438 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109078 }}</ref> Linnaeus specified the [[type location (biology)|type location]] as northern Europe but this was restricted to northern Sweden in 1913.<ref name=mayr/><ref>{{ cite journal | last=Lönnberg | first=Einar | author-link=Einar Lönnberg | date=1913 | title=On the Linnaen names ''Strix funerca'' and ''Anser erythropus'' and on the species which should be referred to them | journal=Ibis | series=10th series | volume=1 | issue=3 | pages=398–402 [401] | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1913.tb06560.x | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26514641 }}</ref> The lesser white-fronted goose is now one of 11 species placed in the genus ''[[Anser (bird)|Anser]]'' that was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=15 June 2024 }}</ref> The specific epithet comes from ''anser'', the Latin for "goose", and ''erythropus'', "red-footed", derived from the old Greek ''eruthros'' "red" and ''pous'' "foot".<ref name="job90">{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n48 48], 150}}</ref> The species is [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc/> The lesser white-fronted goose is closely related to the [[greater white-fronted goose]] (''Anser albifrons'').<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Ottenburghs | first1=J. | last2=Megens | first2=H.-J. | last3=Kraus | first3=R.H.S. | last4=Madsen | first4=O. | last5=van Hooft | first5=P. | last6=van Wieren | first6=S.E. | last7=Crooijmans | first7=R.P.M.A. | last8=Ydenberg | first8=R.C. | last9=Groenen | first9=M.A.M. | last10=Prins | first10=H.H.T. | date=2016 | title=A tree of geese: A phylogenomic perspective on the evolutionary history of True Geese | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=101 | pages=303–313 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.021 | pmid=27233434 | bibcode=2016MolPE.101..303O | url=http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-0-379362 }}</ref> == Distribution and habitat == The lesser white-fronted goose winters further south in Europe and is a rare winter vagrant to [[Great Britain]] and [[India]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Khan|first=Asif N.|date=2013-12-01|title=First Record of Lesser White-Fronted Goose Anser erythropus from Gujarat, India|url=http://www.bnhsjournal.org/index.php/bnhs/article/view/94037|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307051042/http://www.bnhsjournal.org/index.php/bnhs/article/view/94037|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 7, 2017|journal= Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|language=en|volume=110|issue=3|pages=224|doi=10.17087/jbnhs/2013/v110i3/94037|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024|issn=0006-6982}}</ref> Individual birds formerly appeared regularly at [[WWT Slimbridge]] in [[Gloucestershire]], England, where they inspired [[Sir Peter Scott]] to set up The [[Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust]]—modern records, however, are far less frequent, a consequence of the species' decline on its [[Europe]]an breeding grounds. An attractive species, it is also widely kept in wildfowl collections and, as a result, escapes do occur; individuals seen in [[summer]], or in the company of other [[Feral animal|feral]] geese, are likely to be of captive origin. == Description == The two white-fronted goose species differ little other than in size (the lesser, at {{convert|53|-|66|cm|in|abbr=on}} length and with a {{convert|120|-|135|cm|in|abbr=on}} 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|wing-coverts]]. The [[greylag goose]] has a flesh-coloured bill and legs and the upper wing-coverts are bluish-grey. Both white-fronted goose species have a very conspicuous white face and broad black bars which cross the belly. Adult lesser white-fronted geese, as well as being smaller than greater white-fronted geese, have an obvious yellow eye-ring and the white facial blaze goes up to the crown. == Conservation == The lesser white-fronted goose is considered an [[endangered species]], but there are programmes to [[Reintroduction|reintroduce]] animals into the wild to strengthen the population. Additionally it is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([[AEWA]]) applies. === Fennoscandian population === This genetically distinct population is now estimated at 20 breeding pairs or 60–80 total individuals at most. They breed in northern Norway and overwinter in Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. There is a major stop-over site at [[Hortobágy National Park]], Hungary, where the birds spend up to two months during autumn and one month during the spring migration.<ref name=Lengyel2012/> Another part of the Fennoscandian population breeds in northern Sweden. The population size in 2015 is estimated to about 15 breeding pairs or 40–50 individuals in all. These birds follow a western migration route and spend the winter in Netherlands and Germany. According to the IUCN Red List in 2015, the conservation status of this population is Critically Endangered. ==Gallery== <gallery> File:Anser erythropus MWNH 0962.JPG|left|Eggs, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]] File:Zwerggans (Anser erythropus) - Weltvogelpark Walsrode 2011.jpg|A lesser white-fronted goose at [[Weltvogelpark Walsrode]] </gallery> ==References== <!-- FaunAbh26:63. --> {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Lengyel2012>{{cite journal|last1=Lengyel|first1=S.|last2=Tar|first2=J.|last3=Rózsa|first3=L.|title=Flock size measures of migrating Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus|journal=Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|year=2012|volume=58|pages=297–303|url=http://www.zoologia.hu/list/LWfG.pdf}}</ref> }} ==External links== {{Commons category|Anser erythropus}} {{Wikispecies|Anser erythropus}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060221190824/http://cyberbirding.uib.no/photo/a_erythropus_01.php Cyberbirding – Lesser White-fronted Goose] * [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Anser_erythropus/Anser_erythropus.htm Feathers of Lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erythropus)] * [http://www.piskulka.net/ Portal to the Lesser White-fronted Goose by the Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose project] * {{BirdLife|22679886|Anser erythropus}} * {{Avibase|name=Anser erythropus}} * {{InternetBirdCollection|lesser-white-fronted-goose-anser-erythropus}} * {{VIREO|Lesser+white-fronted+goose}} * {{IUCN_Map|22679886/166193479|Anser erythropus}} * {{Xeno-canto species|Anser|erythropus|Lesser white-fronted goose}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q191628}} [[Category:Anser (bird)|lesser white-fronted goose]] [[Category:Birds of the Arctic]] [[Category:Birds of Scandinavia]] [[Category:Birds of Russia]] [[Category:Birds of North Asia]] [[Category:Birds described in 1758|lesser white-fronted goose]] [[Category:Geese]] [[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|lesser white-fronted goose]]
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