Chloephaga poliocephala
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The ashy-headed goose (Chloephaga poliocephala) is a species of waterfowl in tribe Tadornini of subfamily Anserinae. It is found in Argentina and Chile. The ashy-headed goose is monotypic. The ashy-headed goose is 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24 in) long. Males weigh 1.62 to 2.27 kg (3.6 to 5.0 lb) and females 1.47 to 1.49 kg (3.2 to 3.3 lb). 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.
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. It also occurs as vagrant on the Falkland Islands and has bred there. In summer it primarily inhabits clearings in damp forests of southern beech (Nothofagus sp.) around... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 4 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Temaikén | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Faunia | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Chilean National Zoo | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 9 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Ashy-headed Goose sighting in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 54th most-seen of the 70 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and November–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ashy-headed Goose in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–October, the lowest months. Those are among Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park's driest months, with about 150 mm of rain a month against 490 mm in June.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ashy-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.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Ashy-headed Goose sightings, Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina, about 40%), Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, about 30%) and Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 10%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Ashy-headed Goose that you can see in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Yellow-billed Pintail (about 20%), Speckled Teal (about 10%) and Flying Steamer-Duck (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ashy-headed Goose is recorded against all the birds logged in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park (44 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.
