Ross's goose
Species of bird / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Ross's goose?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Ross's goose (Anser rossii), formerly Chen rossii, is a white goose with black wingtips and a relatively short neck. It is the smallest of the three white geese that breed in North America. It is similar in appearance to a white-phase snow goose, but about 40% smaller. Other differences from the snow goose are that the bill is smaller in proportion to its body and lacks "black lips". Like snow geese, Ross's geese may exhibit a darker "blue" phase or morph, though this is extremely rare (<0.01% of adult birds).[2]
Ross's goose | |
---|---|
Adult Ross's goose in Ohio, USA | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Anseriformes |
Family: | Anatidae |
Genus: | Anser |
Species: | A. rossii |
Binomial name | |
Anser rossii Cassin, 1861 | |
Ross's goose range: Breeding Wintering Migration | |
Synonyms | |
|
Before the early 1900s, this goose was considered a rare species, possibly as a consequence of open hunting, but numbers have increased dramatically as a result of conservation measures.[3] It is now listed as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN,[4] and is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Ross's goose is named in honor of Bernard R. Ross (1827–1874), who was associated with the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada's Northwest Territories. Members of the Hudson's Bay Company were the first Europeans to discover the arctic nesting grounds of Ross's geese in 1940.[3] The first recognizable description of Ross's geese, under the name "horned wavey", was given by explorer Samuel Hearne eighty years before John Cassin named it after Ross.[5]