Anser erythropus

A medium-sized goose similar in appearance to the white-fronted goose, but smaller in size, darker in body color, and shorter in beak and feet; However, the frontal leukoplakia is larger than that of the white fronted goose, extending to the top of the head between the eyes, unlike the white fronted goose, which only reaches the base of the mouth. In addition, the eyes of small white-fronted geese are golden, while white-fronted geese are not golden, and these differences are enough to distinguish them in the wild.
Both sexes are similar. There are significant white spots on the base and forehead of the mouth. White spot behind the margin of black, the head, back neck and upper body dark brown, the wings on the outer covering feathers gray brown, dark brown inside, the flight feathers in addition to the outer several primary flight feathers are gray brown, more than all black brown; The upper body feathers are yellowish white, the tail feathers are white, the tail feathers are dark

It is distributed in Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea and Latvia Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
Occasionally: Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden. Origin uncertain: Afghanistan, Tajikistan. ​
It breeds in the subarctic zone in the far north of Eurasia, from Scandinavia to the east through Russia and Siberia, to the northernmost parts of Europe and Asia, such as the Anadere Basin. Wintering in southeastern Europe, Egypt, Turkey, India, Korea, Japan and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, as well as Guangdong, Fujian, Taiwan and other southeastern coastal areas. When migrating

Lesser White-fronted Goose, no subspecies.

Small white-fronted geese leave their breeding grounds and migrate to their wintering grounds from early to mid to late September every year, and usually arrive in Northeast China from early to mid to late October. Some arrived in China as early as the end of September. By early November at the latest. The earliest time to leave China in spring is from early March to mid-March, a large number of people are from late March to mid-April, and there are still people staying in China at the latest at the end of April. The migration takes place mostly at night, with more stops during the day to feed and rest. Migrating in groups, flying and chirping. The flight queue is sometimes disorganized, especially at the beginning of takeoff and short distance flights, sometimes in a diagonal line, sometimes in a "one" shape and a "man" shape.

Small white-fronted geese usually travel in groups. At night, they roost in the water, and during the day, they fly in groups to the tundra and grassland for food. Good at walking on the ground and running fast. Also good at swimming and diving, in case of danger, often quickly flee to the four sides, and then hide in the rocks or grass, such as in the water to swim around, or dive into the water, only the head out of the water, action is extremely cautious and careful.

Small white-fronted geese feed mainly on land. Spring and summer in the seaside or lakeside grassland foraging plant buds, young leaves and tender grass. In autumn and winter, they mainly forage for herbs, cereals, seeds and crop seedlings in saline-alkali plains, semi-dry female grasslands, waterside swamps and farmland areas. They usually leave their underwater habitats at night and fly to the feeding grounds just after dawn. Leaving the habitat often flies back and forth several times while calling over the habitat before flying away. At noon, they usually return to their habitat to rest. The habitat is mostly in reed waters. When they return to the habitat, they often hover over the habitat for a few times before landing, sometimes they fly high and then suddenly rush down, sometimes they fly near the water and then suddenly rush up and fly high, and finally land on the water or the beach near the water when they are sure that there is no danger, sometimes they also sleep at night in the feeding ground.

The breeding season for small white-fronted geese is June to July. The breeding ground is usually reached from mid-May to the end of May, and eggs are laid in early June. When you first arrive, stay in the tundra where the snow has melted and you are not far from the water. Soon after arriving, pairs leave the group in search of a nest. Nests are built on tundra or under low shrubs close to the water's edge, sometimes in mountain rock piles near the water's edge. The nest was a very simple one, made of hay and moss, with a little feathering inside. Each clutch lays 4-7 eggs, usually 4-5 eggs. The female incubates the eggs and the male guards the nest for 25 days. The eggs are pale yellow or ochre in color and are 69-84.5 mm x 43-52 mm in size.

The global population of small white-fronted geese is very rare, especially in China. The species is threatened by infectious diseases due to its high population density during wintering, as well as by illegal hunting of overwintering geese and ducks, which are often hunted by people living around lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China and sold to tourists as game meat. The lesser white-fronted goose is listed as vulnerable. Due to environmental destruction, deterioration of original habitat conditions and human hunting, the species has been severely stressed, and its population has been sharply reduced and has not recovered.

Listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 2018 ver 3.1 - Vulnerable (VU).

It was included in the List of Beneficial Terrestrial Wildlife under State Protection or of Important economic and scientific research Value issued by the State Forestry Administration of China on August 1, 2000. (Note: Item 41)

Listed in China's "National Key Protected Wildlife List" (February 5, 2021) Level 2.  

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