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Ashy-headed Goose
Chloephaga poliocephala

DESCRIPTION:
Ashy-headed Goose
Cauquén de Cabeza Gris
Chloëphaga poliocephala
Length: 600mm. Sexes alike. Bill black; iris dark brown; eye ring white, head and neck dark ashy grey; base of neck, upper back and breast reddish chestnut, finely barred black, although many individuals lack this barring; belly yellowish white; flanks white chestnut washed and black barring; undertail coverts reddish; scapulars and tertiaries, greyish chestnut brown; lower back blackish, uppertail coverts and rectrices black with green sheen; lesser and median wing coverts yellowish white, greater wing coverts bright metallic green forming the speculum; primaries black with greenish sheen; secondaries, underwing coverts and axillaries yellowish white; legs orange on tarsus, except the anterior part which is black like toes and web.
Female: similar coloration but smaller size. Juveniles are similar to adults but head and neck are brownish grey, upperparts are brownish with black barring; wing coverts forming the speculum are a dull dark brown. Habitat and behaviour: easily identified by its coloration and size, it forms sometimes numerous groups, but in the breeding season it is found in isolated pairs. Found in mixed flocks with the Upland Goose and the Ruddy- headed Goose. The Ashy-headed Goose prefers grassy marshes and damp fields with green short grass near woods and margins of lakes, ponds, water courses and streams. Scarcely distributed in the steppe region, during the migrating season it appears occasionally on the sea shores. To roost at night they congregate in large flocks by the rivers, lakes and ponds in the woodland. When the breeding season approaches, noisy disputes and chases break out between males; once the pairs are formed and are isolated, they choose to nest on water shores flanked by trees. The nest is built on the ground, at the foot of the trees or in a hole in logs, sometimes at considerably heights; the bottom of the nest is lined with grasses and covered with abundant down; between six and nine cream-coloured eggs are laid. Range: distribution of this Goose covers the entire Patagonia; more abundant in the Cordillera region of the subantarctic woods and nearby areas from Neuquén down to Tierra del Fuego, it is scarcer in the steppe region. It sporadically reaches Islas Malvinas. In Autumn it migrates northwards reaching the south of the provinces of Buenos Aires and Mendoza.
Illustrated Handbook of the Birds of Patagonia
Kindness: Kovacs Family
 
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Photographs: Mariano Diez Peña


Birding Patagonia • Birdwatcing in Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina and Chile.
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Photographs on the website: Mariano Diez Peña