Ashy-Headed Goose

Ashy-Headed Geese (Chloephaga Poliocephala) are named for their gray heads, the stricking, rich rufous-chestnut chest is far more distinctive. Even when only small numbers are mixed in with large flocks of Upland Geese (Chloephaga Picta), the considerably smaller birds are very prominent due to their bright reddish breasts in warm, late afternoon light, the intense brilliant color is not unlike Rebreasted Geese (Branta Ruficollis). Ganders are somewhat larger and brighter than their mates. Their center of distribution appears to be of the Chile. The coast is generally avoided. Vagrants occasionally reach the Falklands, where the absence of forests has generally precluded the geese from becoming established on the remote windswept islands. Even so, small numbers regularly breed there. Nesting pairs are partial to boggy lake shores, river valleys and swampy terrain in open bushy or wooded regions, but the birds can be also found in sheltered coastal estuaries. They most nest in the Nothofagus (beech) forests in the mountains interior of the far south. While the grassy pampas are shunned, wintering birds are attracted to more open terrain in natural meadows and rough pastures. The geese perch at considerable heights and roosting in trees. They feed by grazing ashore, and rarely swim except when accompanying young or molting. They breed in late October and early November, when pairs defend isolated territories. Courtship can be quite animated, when vocalizing ganders strut about with their heads thrown back. Abundantly lined with down, their nests are well concealed in tall grass or under bushes, but the hollow of burnt tree trunks and tree crotches are utilized as well. Brood occasionally amalgamate into groups of 12-15 young under the care of single pairs. They migrate north and congregate in March south of Buenos Aires. Some Patagonian breeders are resident year round. Relatively easily tamed, the geese are sometimes kept together with domestic ducks, geese and turkeys in frontier districts.