Chloephaga rubidiceps
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The ruddy-headed goose (Chloephaga rubidiceps) is a species of waterfowl in tribe Tadornini of subfamily Anserinae. It is found in Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands. The ruddy-headed goose is monotypic. The ruddy-headed goose is 45 to 52.5 cm (18 to 21 in) long. It is the smallest of the South American sheldgeese of genus Chloephaga, with males weighing 1.65 to 2.02 kg (3.6 to 4.5 lb) and females 1.20 to 1.50 kg (2.6 to 3.3 lb). Adults of both sex have the same plumage. Their heads and necks are red-brown, with a short, thin black bill. The iris is dark brown, with a white eyering. The back, breast, and flanks are gray and buff with brown barring. The wings are gray overall, with an iridescent green speculum, black primaries, and bright white lesser wing-coverts and secondaries. They have a cinnamon belly, sometimes with white patches, and their tail is black. The legs and feet are orange with black blotchy markings, and the carpal knob is orange. Juveniles are similar to adults but duller overall and with a blackish or gray speculum.
The ruddy-headed goose is found in the eastern Chilean and Argentinian...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Falkland Islands | 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Zoo de Doué | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Oasi Naturalistica di Sant'Alessio | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 5 | World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary and Monkey Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Ruddy-headed Goose sighting in Falkland Islands on a given day, based on 758 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 25th most-seen of the 79 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and November–December
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Ruddy-headed Goose in Falkland Islands on a given day, against about 30% in February, April, July and September, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ruddy-headed Goose sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Falkland Islands, in our data
Falkland Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Ruddy-headed Goose sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Chloephaga
The closest relatives of the Ruddy-headed Goose that you can see in Falkland Islands (genus Chloephaga, Austral Sheldgeese) are Upland Goose (about 90%) and Kelp Goose (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ruddy-headed Goose is recorded against all the birds logged in Falkland Islands (758 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
