Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Ross's Goose

Anser rossii

Cassin, 1861

Ross's Goose

G4Apparently Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104055
Element CodeABNJB04020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderAnseriformes
FamilyAnatidae
GenusAnser
Synonyms
Chen rossii(Cassin, 1861)
Other Common Names
Ganso de Ross (ES) Oie de Ross (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly placed in the genus Chen, but phylogenomic data indicate that Anser is paraphyletic if Chen is treated as a separate genus (Ottenburghs et al. 2016) (AOU 2017). Infrequently hybridizes with C. caerulescens.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-07
Change Date1996-11-20
Range Extent Comments
BREEDS: mainly Queen Maud Gulf area (northern Mackenzie, northwestern Keewatin) also southern Southhampton Island, western coast of Hudson Bay, and Sagavanirktok River delta, Alaska (Johnson and Troy 1987). WINTERS: mainly in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Imperial valleys in California; also southern Texas, New Mexico, and southern Arizona. In recent years, has been wintering in growing numbers in the middle Rio Grande valley of New Mexico and in lakes of northern Chihuahua (Johnson and Herter 1989).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

In migration and winter mainly in marshy lakes, wet prairies, foraging in grassy areas, pastures and cultivated fields. Sometimes in coastal lakes, bays and river mouths (Cogswell 1977). Nests in arctic tundra, usually on remote lake islands and deltas. High nest density recorded in heath patches on islands (McLandress 1983). Female constructs nest in a scrape, building a mound of twigs, grasses, mosses, and lichens.

Ecology

See McLandress (1983) for information on dynamics of breeding populations. May benefit by nesting near snow goose (McLandress 1983).

Reproduction

Eggs are laid in late May-June (mainly first 3 weeks of June; varies with weather and snow conditions). Single-brood per year. Female incubates usually 3-5, sometimes 2-6, eggs for about 21-22 days. Hatching occurs usually in early July in Beaufort Sea region. Nestlings are precocial and downy, remain with adults until following spring. Nests in loose colonies.
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceousTundraCropland/hedgerow
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5B
ProvinceRankNative
OntarioS2BYes
SaskatchewanS5MYes
ManitobaS3BYes
AlbertaS5MYes
NunavutS5BYes
Northwest TerritoriesS5Yes
QuebecS3MYes
United StatesN4N
ProvinceRankNative
Navajo NationS1NYes
MinnesotaSNAYes
AlabamaSNRNYes
OklahomaSNRNYes
North DakotaSNAYes
CaliforniaSNRNYes
NevadaS5NYes
KansasSNAYes
OregonSNAYes
South DakotaSNAYes
MissouriSNAYes
MontanaS4NYes
UtahSNAYes
TexasS3Yes
WyomingSNAYes
ArizonaS2NYes
New MexicoS5NYes
IdahoS3MYes
IowaSNAYes
ColoradoSNAYes
IllinoisSNAYes
North CarolinaS1NYes
KentuckySNAYes
NebraskaSNRNYes
LouisianaS3NYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
11 - Climate change & severe weatherPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alterationPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)

—

Roadless Areas (2)
Oregon (1)
AreaForestAcres
HomesteadWallowa-Whitman National Forest5,817
Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Crawford MountainGeorge Washington National Forest9,892
References (23)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Chesser, R.T., K.J. Burns, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2017. Fifty-eighth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 134:751-773.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Cogswell, H. L. 1977. Water birds of California. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 399 pp.
  6. Frederick, R. B., and R. R. Johnson. 1983. Ross' goose increasing in central North America. Condor 85:257-258.
  7. Glazener, W. C. 1946. Food habits of wild geese on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Journal of Wildlife Management 10:322-329.
  8. Hammond, M. C., and G. E. Mann. 1956. Waterfowl nesting islands. Journal of Wildlife Management 20:345-352.
  9. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  10. Hughes, R. J., A. Reed, and G. Gauthier. 1994. Space and habitat use by Greater Snoow Goose broods on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories. Journal of Wildlife Management 58:536-545.
  11. Johnson, S. R., and D. M. Troy. 1987. Nesting of the Ross'goose and blue-phase snow goose in the Sagavanirktok river delta, Alaska. Condor 89:665-667.
  12. Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
  13. Kortright, F.H. 1967. The ducks, geese, and swans of North America. The Stackpole Company, Harrisburg, PA, and Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, D.C. 476 pp.
  14. Livezey, B. C. 1986. A phylogenetic analysis of recent Anseriform genera using morphological characters. Auk 103:737-754.
  15. McLandress, M. R. 1983. Temporal changes in habitat selection and nest spacing in a colony of Ross' and lesser snow geese. Auk 100: 335-343.
  16. Palmer, R. S., editor. 1976. Handbook of North American birds. Vol. 2. Waterfowl (first part). Whistling ducks, swans, geese, sheld-ducks, dabbling ducks. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven. 521 pp.
  17. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  18. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  19. Root, T. 1988. Atlas of wintering North American birds: An analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. University of Chicago Press. 336 pp.
  20. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  21. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  22. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1988. SEIS 88. Final supplemental environmental impact statement: issuance of annual regulations permitting the sport hunting of migratory birds. x + 340 pp.
  23. Williams, C. S., and C. A. Sooter. 1941. Canada Goose habitats in Utah and Oregon. Transactions of the North American Wildlife Conference 5:383-387.