The ashy-headed goose (''Chloephaga poliocephala'') is a species of

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

in tribe Tadornini of subfamily Anserinae. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The ashy-headed goose is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

Description

The ashy-headed goose is long. Males weigh and females . Adults have the same plumage. Their heads and necks are gray, their upper back and breast chestnut with fine barring, their flanks barred black and white, and their belly white. In flight their blackish wings show bold white leading and trailing patches and a metallic green speculum. Their bill is black and the legs and feet orange with black markings. Juveniles' rufous areas are much duller, their back and breast barring stronger, and their speculum dark brownish.Carboneras, C. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Ashy-headed Goose (''Chloephaga poliocephala''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ashgoo1.01 retrieved September 29, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The ashy-headed goose is a bird of South America's southern cone from central Chile and Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, south into

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

. It also occurs as vagrant on the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

and has bred there. In summer it primarily inhabits clearings in damp forests of southern beech (''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

'' sp.) around lakes and marshes, on inland islands, near the coast, and on higher ground. In winter it favors meadows and pastures.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Behavior

Movement

The ashy-headed goose nests south of 37° south latitude in Chile and western Argentina. In winter much of the population moves further north in Chile and onto the Argentinian

Pampas The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...

Feeding

The ashy-headed goose is almost entirely vegetarian. A study of its diet on its wintering grounds in Argentina showed it feeding mainly in harvested fields of wheat, maize, sunflower, and sorghum. One in the austral summer in Tierra del Fuego showed a diet there of leaves and fleshy fruits. Red crowberry ('' Empetrum rubrum'') was the dominant fruit.

Breeding

The ashy-headed goose's breeding season begins in October to November and in some areas lasts to March. It nests singly or in small loose groups. Nests are placed in a tree hollow, on a stump, or in long grass, and are lined with down. The clutch size is four to six eggs. Males guard females during the incubation period of about 30 days. The time to fledging is not known.

Vocalization

Male and female ashy-headed geese have different vocalizations: Males make "soft, wigeon-like whistles" and females "harsh cackling notes".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the ashy-headed goose as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size is unknown it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. Winter surveys in northeastern Argentina estimated that as many as 150,000 may be there.Pedrana, J., Bernad, L., Bernardos, J.N., Seco Pon, J.P., Isacch, J.P., Muñóz, S.D. and Maceira, N.O. (2018). Winter population size estimations of three migratory sheldgeese in the southern pampas, Argentina. Waterbirds. 41(1): 16–21. The species is " latively free from human persecution at hebreeding grounds" but in winter is persecuted by farmers who view it as a competitor to their livestock.

Gallery

File:Chloephaga poliocephala.jpg, left, Parents with chicks in Tierra del Fuego File:Chloephaga poliocephala -Patagonia-8 (1).jpg, left, Juveniles in Patagonia File:Chloephaga poliocephala MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.13.5.jpg, ''Chloephaga poliocephala'' egg - MHNT