Lesser White-Fronted Goose

Lesser White-Fronted Geese (Anser Erythropus) have small, rounded heads, steep foreheads and extensive wide white blazes extending to above the eyes. Lesser White-Fronted Geese (Anser Erythropus) have short, uniformly bright-pink, triangular-shaped bills, proportionally longer wings that extend beyond the tail and conspicuous swollen, bright-orange or yellow eye-rings that are visible from a considerable distance distinguish them from their substantially larger relative. Even so, these dainty, more agile geese can be surprisingly difficult to discern in large mixed flocks. However, they move swiftly with more rapid feeding rates, and tend to clip grass with the bill-tip rather than the sides. Lesser White-Fronted Geese (Anser Erythropus) are noted for disyllabic or trisyllabic squeaky calls that are sometimes uttered in a rather long series, and the birds are especially loud on the breeding grounds. Due to their faster and more noticeably higher-pitched, squeaky calls, the Russian refer to them as Squeakers or Peepers. While Lesser White-Fronted Geese (Anser Erythropus) may mingle with other goose species in winter flocks, the smaller geese prefer more semiarid country. They are inclined to roost on large lakes and rivers, salt steppes, farm land and meadows. Breeding across the whole of Eurasia, mainly north or barely south of the Arctic Circle, the little geese are not limited to the tundra, and are inclined to nest farther south than Greater White-Fronts (Anser Albifrons). Nesting almost exclusively inland, pairs of Lesser White-Fronted Goose (Anser Erythropus) are partial to the fringe zones of wooded tundra or forest edges, especially subarctic willow regions in hilly terrain. While the reproductive cycle can be completed in less than 80 days, their stay in the north is lengthy, and some birds may linger on the breeding grounds for as long as four months.