Branta bernicla

  

Brant:

The Brant is unique because it is a sea goose, which isn’t common. They tend to always remain near the tide of the ocean, or slightly inland where streams are present. As young geese, they will eat invertebrates and the like but with age they eat more maritime foods including eelgrass and wigeon grass. The occasional invertebrate may be ingested due to the fact of the food they eat which often times contains many invertebrates.

IUCN Listing: Least concern - unknown population trend

Winter Habitat: Ocean goose! They usually stay in the shallows of the ocean and near saltwater bays

Food: Eelgrass and wigeon grass and as young geese they will eat invertebrates

Foraging Technique: Grazing

Breeding Habitat: Small tundra islands within five miles of a coastline

Nesting Preference: Shallow bowl with vegetation and down lining it

Average Clutch Size: 3-5

First age of Breeding:  

Literature cited:

Bird Web

All About Birds

Planet of Birds

Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World

Anser rossii

Ross' Goose

IUCN Listing: Least concern - increasing population
Winter Habitat:  During the wintertime, they tend to live near agricultural lands and shallow wetlands

Food: During the winter time, they forage grass and while flying south they typically feed on grains.

Foraging Technique: Grazing

Breeding Habitat: Refer to clutch size. Ross Goose finds islands that possess lakes which are too large for the mammalian predators to swim across, creating a safe environment to incubate

Nesting Preference: Refer clutch size

Average Clutch Size: These geese have a smaller clutch, approximately two to six eggs, than their closely related snow goose and also they began incubating eggs earlier. This could be attributed to where they breed, in the Arctic tundra near shallow lakes, which has a higher predation factor of Arctic Fox and Parasitic Jaegers.

First age of Breeding: At the age of two years old, Ross geese begin nesting in the Arctic tundra near shallow lakes.

Literature cited:

Bird Web

All About Birds

Planet of Birds

Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World

Anser albifrons

Greater White-fronted Goose

IUCN Listing: Least concern - unknown population trend 
Winter Habitat: Travel on agricultural lands, marshes and ponds

Food: Mostly vegetarian, grass, rice and rains as well as other vegetation

Foraging Technique: Grazing and dabbling 

Breeding Habitat: Tundra wetlands

Nesting Preference: Ground nesting, lined with vegetation

Average Clutch Size: 1-8 eggs

First age of Breeding:  Two years old

Literature cited:

Bird Web

All About Birds

Planet of Birds

Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World

Anser indicus

Bar-headed Goose 

IUCN Listing: Least concern - decreasing population

Winter Habitat: Remain in large rivers and sand bars

Food: Grasses and grain crops

Foraging Technique: Grazing

Breeding Habitat: The Bar-headed Goose is a remarkable goose, one in which makes a journey over the large mountain span of the Himalayas. Most birds go around, but this goose decides to take the challenge and fly over this mountain range in order to breed, breeding in tall mountains over 4000 meters near lakes, river bogs or marshes

Nesting Preference: Very shallow cup out in the open

Average Clutch Size: 4 eggs

First age of Breeding:  2 years old

Literature cited:

Planet of Birds

Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World

Dendrocygna bicolor

Fulvous Whistling Duck 
The latin name for these “ducks” is dendrocygna which means tree goose. Although they are called ducks due to their small size, they are actually more closely related to geese, with their long neck and long legs.

IUCN Listing: Least concern - decreasing population

Winter Habitat: Freshwater wetlands, flooded grasslands, agricultural lands, pastures

Food: Grass seeds

Foraging Technique: Dabbling 

Breeding Habitat: Same as winter habitat. The times in which they breed are variable due to the large array of locations they live. In India they will breed in October where as they breed in the summer in the United States of America. These ducks are so secretive about courtship, that it is difficult to determine when there is a pair until the mating actually is initiated.

Nesting Preference: Breed in reeds with floating vegetation but on occasion they will be found in trees.

Average Clutch Size: 12-14 eggs

First age of Breeding:  

Literature cited:

Bird Web

All About Birds

Planet of Birds

Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World

Magpie Goose

Magpie Goose 

IUCN Listing: Least concern- stable population
Winter Habitat: Flood plains and tropical rivers

Food: Grass and seeds

Foraging Technique: Grazing

Breeding Habitat: Refer to winter habitat. These geese possess an interesting breeding strategy; although, they are paired for life, the males will often times mate with two females. The pair will often be found within a family group, this family group all builds the nest together. 

Nesting Preference: Near water, in floating vegetation cups, no lining

Average Clutch Size: 8 for one female, and 16 for two females

First age of Breeding:  2 years

Literature cited:

Planet of Birds

Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World

Horned Screamer

Horned Screamer

IUCN Listing: Least concern - decreasing population
Winter Habitat: Non-migratory

Food: Mainly vegetarian: grains, grass, sedge, leaves and other types of vegetation

Foraging Technique: Digging, filtering and grazing

Breeding Habitat: Tropical lowland lakes, ponds, wetlands 

Nesting Preference:  Roost in trees with large deep nests made out of vegetation and reeds

Average Clutch Size: 2-8 eggs

First age of Breeding:  

Literature cited:

Planet of Birds

Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World