Emperor Goose

Emperor Goose
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Genus: Anser Species: canagicus
Binomial name
Anser canagicus

The Emperor Goose Anser canagicus is a species of goose. It breeds around the Bering Sea, mostly in Alaska, USA, but also in Kamchatka, Russia. It is migratory, wintering mainly in the Aleutian Islands.

The American ornithologist, David Sibley, places this species and the other North American "white" geese in the genus Chen, rather than the more traditional "grey" goose genus Anser. The Emperor Goose is then classed as Chen canigica.

This goose has a stout grey body, subtly barred with fine barring, and a white head and hindneck, often stained orange from iron-rich waters. Unlike the blue morph Snow Goose, the white does not extend onto the front of the neck. The sexes are similar, but immatures have the head the same colour as the body.

This species is much less gregarious than most geese, usually occurring in family groups. It breeds on coastal tundra, laying 3-7 eggs in a ground nest.

Breeding birds moult near the breeding colonies, but non-breeders move to St Lawrence Island to moult prior to the main migration to the rocky coastines of the wintering grounds.

The food of this goose is typically composed of shoreline grasses and other coastal plants.