Greylag goose (Anser anser)

 {Click on an image to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page}

This page last updated on 02/18/2018

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes: On 02/06/2011 I made a follow-up visit to Floyd Lamb Park as I felt my stop there last week with the senior group was much too short. In a little over an hour I snapped 375 pictures. About half were of the peacocks, and the other half were of water fowl, mallards, snow geese, Canada geese, etc. After nearly two hours of reviewing when I got home, I whittled this number down to around 150 and I’m still having a hard time reducing this number down to just a few really good ones. Of the more than 150 pictures that I ended up with, I think these shots of the Greylag Goose are some of my favorites. It was shot on the shore of Tule Springs Lake, the largest of the four lakes at Floyd Lamb Park. The shot in (Fig. 02) was taken on 02/12/2018.

Greylag Goose Description: The Greylag Goose (Figs. 01 &02) is the largest and bulkiest of the grey Anser geese. It has a rotund, bulky body, a thick and long neck, and a large head and bill. It has pink legs and feet, and an orange bill. It is 30 to 35 inches long with a wing length of 16 to 19 inches. It has a tail 2.4 to 2.7 inches, a bill 2.5 to 2.7 inches long, and a tarsus that measures 2.8 to 3.7 inches. It weighs between 103 to 127 oz. Males are generally larger than females, more so in the eastern subspecies rubirostris. The plumage of the Greylag Goose is greyish-brown, with a darker head and paler belly with variable black spots. Its plumage is patterned by the pale fringes of its feathers. It has a white line bordering its upper flanks. Its coverts are lightly colored, contrasting with its darker flight feathers. Juveniles differ mostly in their lack of a black-speckled belly. Picture in (Fig. 02) is a White Greylag Goose.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)