Endangered
Swan Goose
Anser cygnoides
The swan goose is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, Northeast China, and the Russian Far East.
Appearance
The sexes are similar, although the male is larger, with a proportionally longer bill and neck. In fact, the largest females are barely as large as the smallest males. Typical measurements of the wing are 45–46 cm (18–18 in) in males, 37.5–44 cm (14.8–17.3 in) in females. The bill is about 8.7–9.8 cm (3.4–3.9 in) long in males and 7.5–8.5 cm (3.0–3.3 in) in females. The upperparts are greyish-brown, with thin light fringes to the larger feathers and a maroon hindneck and cap (reaching just below the eye).
The swan goose is large and long-necked for its genus, wild birds being 81–94 cm (32–37 in) long (the longest Anser goose) and weighing 2.8–3.5 kg (6.2–7.7 lb) or more (the second-heaviest Anser, after the greylag goose A. Anser).
The tarsus of males measures around 8.1 cm (3.2 in). The wingspan of adult geese is 160–185 cm (63–73 in).
Published measurements include mass about 145.
Range and habitat
The swan goose is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, Northeast China, and the Russian Far East. Introduced and feral populations of its domestic breeds occur in many places outside its natural range.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
It forms small flocks outside the breeding season. Birds return from the winter quarters around April, and the breeding season starts soon thereafter.
It breeds as single pairs or loose groups near marshes and other wetlands, with nesting activity starting about May. The clutch is usually 5–6 but sometimes up to 8 eggs, that are laid in a shallow nest made from plants, placed directly on the ground, often on a small knoll to keep it dry.
In crisis
The species is currently classified as an endangered species by the IUCN based on ongoing population declines and range losses, exacerbated by recent poor breeding success and unsustainable levels of hunting. Total population was estimated as 36,000 – 43,500 mature individuals in 2023.
Swan Goose is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Swan Goose, Wikidata item Q31354. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
