Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Karatekin University Journal of Science
Volume: 04 , Pages: 34-41
Language:
English
with Turkish summary
Full reference: Özkoc, Ö.Ü. 2025. Evaluating the wintering distribution of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) in Türkiye using citizen science data Karatekin University Journal of Science 04: 34-41
Keywords: wintering, wildfowl, threatened species, Türkiye, citizen science
Abstract:
Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) is globally classified as Vulnerable and one of the rarest goose species recorded in Türkiye. Despite its status as a regular but scarce winter visitor, systematic monitoring is absent, and knowledge relies mainly on citizen science observations and limited telemetry data. To assess the species’ wintering distribution and threats in Türkiye, records from citizen science portals were compiled and filtered for duplicates. Confirmed observations were obtained for 26 wetlands. Lake Erçek in Eastern Anatolia was identified as the only regular wintering site, while Lake Haçlı was identified as a potential regular wintering site; other wetlands hosted only irregular records. The largest flock—1,234 individuals—was reported from Lake Haçlı in 2021; however, insufficient monitoring prevents classification of the site as a regular wintering area. Poaching may represent the most severe threat. As both major Western Palearctic flyways intersect Türkiye, the conservation of key eastern wetlands, particularly Erçek and Haçlı are essential. The study underscores the need for systematic monitoring and targeted conservation measures for wintering goose species.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: 74 , Pages: 53-68
Language:
English
Full reference: Solovyeva, D., Rozenfeld, s., Barykina, D., Kirtaev, G., Danilova, V., Meng, F., Cao, L., Lei, G. & Zeng, Q. 2024. Estimated size of the Eastern population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus revealed from aerial surveys of key moulting sites. Wildfowl 74: 53-68
Keywords: aerial survey, moulting period, newly-discovered site, population estimate, eastern populatio, China
Abstract:
The Eastern population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (EPLWFG) breeds and moults in Russia and the majority winter in China. Intensive surveys of lakes in the Yangtze River floodplain and in Japan estimated the EPLWFG at 6,600 individuals in 2020 compared to 14,000–19,000 in 2016. Waterfowl are easier to count when concentrated in relatively small areas at key times of the year, and the non-breeding and failed breeding elements of the EPLWFG (an estimated 87% of the population) concentrate at remote moulting sites from early July to mid-August during remigial moult. Locations of GPS-tagged EPLWFG (non-breeding birds and failed breeders), which moulted between 25 June and 17 August, recorded during an earlier study, were plotted on maps of the key moulting region, along the San-Yuryakh and Kyuanekhtyakh Rivers which flow into Omulyakhskaya Bay. An aerial survey undertaken in July 2021 aimed to cover as many locations of the tracked individuals as possible, together with Svyatoy Nos Cape and the New Siberian Islands (where the species was also thought to moult), to count the numbers of geese moulting in these areas. Moulting sites on the delta of the Lena River were also surveyed from the air during the EPLWFG moulting periods in 2019 and 2020. Goose groups were photographed and digitally tagged to GPS coordinates, generating a database which included a date/time stamp to the nearest second, coordinates to the nearest 0.000001 degree, and a picture ID. Photographs were processed using Adobe Photoshop V 21.1.3 software. From detection rates in the survey area, we were able to assess the extent of similar habitat elsewhere in the EPLWFG moulting range, to obtain an estimate of the potential total population size. Moulting EPLWFG were found on Bolshoy Lyakhovaskiy Island in the New Siberian Islands, a new site discovered during this study. A total of 9,373 EPLWFG was counted in moulting flocks at all known and newly discovered moulting sites. The extrapolated estimate for the number of non-breeding and failed breeding birds, on taking the expanded area of suitable habitat into account, was of potentially 24,060 geese. Considering that c. 10% of EPLWFG are successful breeders (i.e. remain on their breeding sites and do not join the moulting flocks), we propose that the overall population size could be as high as 26,733 individuals, excluding offspring of the year.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: 73 , Pages: 238–249
Language:
English
Full reference: Pokrovskaya, O., Sokolova, N., Erich, D., Gilg, O., Sokolov, V. & Sokolov, A. 2023. Globally threatened Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus nesting in association with Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus in southern Yamal, Russia. Wildfowl 73: 238–249
Keywords: breeding biology, nest association, nest protection, peregrine falcon, Siberia, arctic
Abstract:
Knowledge about the breeding biology and potential threats on the breeding grounds is important for conservation of threatened species. The main breeding range of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (LWFG) forms a belt along the southern part of the Russian arctic and, although their main nesting habitat has been described based on observations of broods or pairs with breeding behaviour, only very few observations of confirmed nests have been reported. Since 2006, we have encountered 36 nests of this rare species in the Erkuta River basin (in the southern part of the Yamal Peninsula), described their nesting habitat and found that 71% of nests were associated with territorial Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus. Such a nest association, already described for other Siberian wildfowl, is assumed to increase the nest survival of LWFG in areas with high predation rates, but also raises indirect conservation concerns since the Peregrine Falcon is itself a rare species in many regions of Russia.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: SpecIs 6 , Pages: 206–243.
Language:
English
External Link:
Full reference: Ao, P., Wang, X., Solovyeva, D., Meng, F., Ikeuchi, T., Shimada, T., Park, J., Gao, D., Liu, G., Hu, B., Natsagdorj, T., Zheng, B., Vartanyan, S., Davaasuren, B., Zhang, J., Cao, L. & Fox, A. 2021. Rapid decline of the geographically restricted and globally threatened Eastern Palearctic Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. Wildfowl SpecIs 6: 206–243.
Keywords: abundance, key sites, migration routes, population trends, telemetry tracking, China, Asia
Abstract:
The Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus, which breeds across northern Eurasia from Norway to Chukotka, is globally threatened and is currently classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Eastern Palearctic population of the species was thought to breed in arctic Russia, from east of the Taimyr Peninsula to Chukotka, and to winter in East Asia, but its precise status, abundance, breeding and wintering ranges, and migration routes were largely unknown, reducing the effectiveness of conservation efforts. In this paper, we combined results from satellite tracking, field surveys, a literature review and expert knowledge, to present an updated overview of the winter distribution and abundance of Lesser White-fronted Geese in the Eastern Palearctic, highlighting their migration corridors, habitat use and the conservation status of the key sites used throughout the annual cycle. Improved count coverage puts the Eastern Palearctic Lesser White-fronted Geese population at c. 6,800 birds in 2020, which represents a rapid and worrying decline since the estimate of 16,000 in 2015, as it suggests at least a halving of numbers in just five years. East Dongting Lake (Hunan Province) in China is the most important wintering site for the species in East Asia, followed by Poyang Lake (Jiangxi Province) and Caizi Lake (Anhui Province), with one key wintering site in Miyagi County in Japan. Satellite tracking showed that eight individuals captured during summer on the Rauchua River, Chukotka, Russia wintered in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River floodplain in China. Their migration speed was slower in spring than in autumn, mainly because of longer stopover duration at staging sites in spring. The tracked geese mainly used cultivated land on migration stopovers (52% in spring; 45% in autumn), tundra habitat in summer (63%), and wetlands (66%) in winter. Overall, 87% of the GPS fixes were in protected areas during the winter, far greater than in spring (37%), autumn (28%) and summer (7%). We urge more tracking of birds of differing wintering and breeding provenance to provide a fuller understanding of the migration routes, staging sites and breeding areas used by the geese, including for the birds wintering in Japan. The most urgent requirement is to enhance effective conservation and long-term monitoring of Lesser White-fronted Geese across sites within China, and particularly to improve our understanding of the management actions needed to maintain the species. Collaboration between East Asian countries also is essential, to coordinate monitoring and to formulate effective protection measures for safeguarding this population in the future.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: 68 , Pages: 44-69.
Language:
English
Full reference: Cuthbert, R.J., Aarvak, T., Boros, E., Eskelin, T., Fedorenko, V., Karvonen, R., Kovalenko, A., Lehikoinen, S., Petkov, N., Szilágy, A., Tar, J., Timonen, S., Timoshenko, A., Zhadan, K. & Zuban, I. 2018. Estimating the autumn staging abundance of migratory goose species in northern Kazakhstan. Wildfowl 68: 44-69.
Keywords: Anser erythropus, Branta ruficollis, flyway population estimates, sampling methodology.
Abstract:
Northern Kazakhstan and adjoining areas of Russia have vitally important autumn staging sites for arctic breeding geese, especially for the globally threatened Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (LWfG) and Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis (RbG). Part of the Fennoscandian and the entire Western Main subpopulations of LWfG and the global population of RbGs are believed to stage there, which facilitates obtaining up-to-date population estimates for these species. A total of 80 lakes were surveyed across four survey areas in autumn 2016, recording more than 1.2 million geese in the region. Greater White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons (GWfG) were the most abundant with an estimated c. 890,000 birds, with counts of c. 250,000 Greylag Geese Anser anser, c. 53,000 Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea, c. 39,100 RbG and c. 32,000 LWfG also recorded during the surveys. Based on a priori lake classification for both LWfG and RbG, to stratify survey lakes in order to generate total population estimates, survey teams visited a sample of different lake types. After removing lakes smaller than the observed minimum lake size used by each species, the total number of potential lakes available within the core staging areas of each species (335 lakes of > 320 ha for LWfG; 361 lakes of > 100 ha for RbG) was calculated. Bootstrapping procedures, with replacement, were then used to estimate the total numbers likely to be present in the region. These calculations produced total estimates of 34,250 birds (95% confidence intervals = 28,500–40,100 birds) for the Western Main population of LWfG (well in excess of current population estimates of 8,000–13,000 individuals) and an estimated population of 50,100 RbG (95% CI = 28,100–72,600 birds), broadly similar to recent population estimates of 55,000–57,000. We recommend that future surveys continue to monitor as large a region and as many lakes as possible in order to capture inter-annual variation in the distribution of birds and to provide more reliable assessments of population size and trends of these migratory species.
Literature type: Book
Language:
English
Full reference: Reeber, S. 2015. Wildfowl of Europe, Asia and North America. , Christopher Helm, London
Keywords: Occurrence, status, biology, population
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
Volume: 24 , Pages: 365–377
DOI: 10.1002/oa.2367
Language:
English
Full reference: Gotfredsen, A.B. 2013. Birds in subsistence and culture at viking age sites in Denmark. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 24: 365–377 https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.2367
Keywords: Denmark, wildfowling, falconry, status, symbolic significance, domestic fowl, Viking Age
Abstract:
This paper reviews the evidence for consumption and use of birds at Danish Viking Age sites. The presence and diversity of wild and domestic bird species were studied on the basis of the avian material retrieved from sites representing a wide range of different habitats covering a period from the Late Germanic Iron Age to early medieval times (ca 5th–12th centuries AD). A large diversity of at least 20 avian families with more than 60 taxa in addition to domestic fowl was documented. Although variation in species diversity and abundance in the assemblages were influenced by recovery methods, some genuine differences emerged regarding site type as well as topographical and geographic variation. Marked differences among avian species within certain bird families were revealed; herons (Ardeidae), birds of prey (Accipitridae), cranes (Gruidae), tetraonids (Tetraonidae) and waders (Scolopacidae) occurred more commonly at certain categories of sites such as high-status manorial and early urban sites. The usage of eagle feathers was evidenced by cut marks on eagle wing bones and falconry was documented at a few high-status sites.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: 61 , Pages: 110-120.
Language:
English
Full reference: Solovieva, D. & Vartanyan, S. 2011. Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus: good news about the breeding population in west Chukotka, Russia. Wildfowl 61: 110-120.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: 59 , Pages: 124-134.
Language:
English
Full reference: Heinicke, T., Yakushev, N.N. & Syroechkovksi Jr., E.E. 2009. The importance of the Kanchalan River, Chukotka, Russia, for the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. Wildfowl 59: 124-134.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: 58 , Pages: 3-19.
Language:
English
External Link:
Full reference: Fox, A.D., Lei, C., BArter, M., Rees, E.C., Hearn, R.D., Hao, C.P., Xin, W., Yong, Z., Tao, D.S. & Fang, S.X. 2008. The functional use of East Dongting Lake, China, by wintering geese. Wildfowl 58: 3-19.
Number of results: 19