Anser rossii
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
Ross's goose (Anser rossii) is a white goose with black wingtips and a relatively short neck. It is the smallest of the three white geese that breed in North America. It is similar in appearance to a white-phase snow goose, but about 40% smaller. Other differences from the snow goose are that the bill is smaller in proportion to its body and lacks "black lips". Like snow geese, Ross's geese may exhibit a darker "blue" phase or morph, though this is extremely rare (<0.01% of adult birds).
Before the early 1900s, this goose was considered a rare species, possibly as a consequence of open hunting, but numbers have increased dramatically as a result of conservation measures. It is now listed as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN, and is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Ross's goose is named in honor of Bernard R. Ross (1827–1874), who was associated with the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada's Northwest Territories. Members of the Hudson's Bay Company were the first Europeans to discover the arctic nesting grounds of Ross's geese in 1940. The first recognizable description of Ross's geese, under the name "horned wavey", was given by explorer Samuel Hearne 80 years before John Cassin named it after Ross. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Ecomuseum Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Watatunga Wildlife Reserve | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Dierenpark Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 8 | Centro Cicogne e Anatidi | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 9 | Tierpark Hagenbeck | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Rosamond Gifford Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Cleres Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 14 | Landgoed Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Ross's Goose sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 275th most-seen of the 302 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Ross's Goose in Houston on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ross's Goose sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
14th of 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Ross's Goose sightings, Houston ranks 14th at under 5%. The best odds are in Ciudad Juárez (México, about 40%), San Antonio (United States, under 5%) and Minneapolis [Saint Paul] (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ross's Goose is recorded against all the birds logged in Houston (25 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
