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Information about Chinese Goose

Swan Goose
Enlarge picture
A Swan Goose in China

A Swan Goose in China
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Anser
Species:A. cygnoides
Binomial name
Anser cygnoides
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms


Cycnopsis cygnoides


The Swan Goose Anser cygnoides is a large goose with a natural breeding range in Mongolia, northernmost China, and southeastern Russia. It is migratory and winters mainly in central and eastern China. The species has been domesticated, and introduced and feral populations occur elsewhere.[1][2]

It is large for its genus, 81–94 cm long (the longest Anser goose) and weighing 2.8–3.5 kg (the second-heaviest, after Greylag Goose). It has a long neck, long, heavy black bill, brown cap and pale underparts apart from some belly streaking; the upperparts are brown and the legs are orange. The sexes are similar, although the male is larger, and juveniles are duller. The voice is a loud honking. It grazes on sedges, and rarely swims. It forms small flocks outside the breeding season.[1][2]

It is a rare goose of steppes and mountain valleys, which breeds near marshes and other wetlands, laying 5–8 eggs in a ground nest. In the winter it grazes on steppes and stubble, sometimes far from water.[1][2]

The Swan Goose is listed as endangered in the wild, the population declining due to habitat loss and excessive hunting.[1][3]

Domestication

Main article: Domesticated goose
Enlarge picture
Domesticated breeds of Chinese goose can be readily recognised by the knob on the beak, and the fat rear end.
The Swan Goose is extensively kept as poultry. A large number of breeds have been selected in captivity, known as Chinese goose (another heavier breed is known as the African goose[4]), differing from the wild birds in much larger size (up to 5-10 kg in males, 4-9 kg in females), and in having an often strongly developed basal knob on the upper side of the bill. Some domesticated, introduced, or feral populations may be completely white, while others retain a plumage pattern more like wild birds. The knob at the top of the beak is more prominent on males than females. By 6–8 weeks of age, the knob is already pronounced enough that it can be used for sexing. A female Chinese goose can lay 50–60 eggs over the course of the breeding season (February to June), although there are reports of Chinese geese laying up to 100 eggs during that time.[5]

"The hybrids from the common and Chinese geese (A. cygnoides), species which are so different that they are generally ranked in distinct genera, have often bred in this country with either pure parent, and in one single instance they have bred inter se." Charles Darwin, p270, The Origin of Species, Penguin Classics

References

1. ^ del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. Handbook of Birds of the World Vol. 1: 581. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-10-5
2. ^ Madge, S., & Burn, H. (1988). Wildfowl. Helm ISBN 0-7136-3647-5.
3. ^ BirdLife International (2006). Anser cygnoides. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map, a brief justification of why this species is endangered, and the criteria used.
4. ^ African Geese. Feathersite.com.
5. ^ [2002] "ORIGINS AND BREEDS OF DOMESTIC GEESE", in Buckland, Roger, and Guy, Gérard (ed.).: Goose Production. Rome: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 92-5-104862-2. 
conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in number, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Anseriformes
Wagler, 1831

Families
  • Anhimidae
  • Anseranatidae
  • Anatidae
  • †Dromornithidae
  • †Presbyornithidae
  • †Gastornidae(?)


The order Anseriformes
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Waterbird redirects here. See also shorebirds and seabirds.

Ducks, geese and swans

Black-bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)


Scientific classification
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Anser
Brisson, 1760

Species
see text.
Synonyms

Chen Boie, 1822 (but see text)
Cygnopsis Brandt, 1836
Cycnopsis Agassiz, 1846 (emendation)
Eulabeia Reichenbach, 1852
Philacte
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)

Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775. Currently owned by and hanging at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s  860s  870s  - 880s -  890s  900s  910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. Usage and terminology are different for zoology and botany.

Zoology

In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example
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Goose (plural geese, male gander(s)) is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller.
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Anthem
"Монгол улсын төрийн дуулал"
National anthem of Mongolia
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This page contains Chinese text.
Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.
China (Traditional Chinese:
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Anthem
Hymn of the Russian Federation


Capital
(and largest city) Moscow

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Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Migrations include movements of varied distances made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather.
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feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state. Rarely will a local environment perfectly integrate the feral organism into its established ecology.
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A. anser

Binomial name
Anser anser
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Subspecies
  • A. a. anser
    Western Greylag Goose
  • A. a. rubrirostris
    Eastern Greylag Goose
  • A. a.

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Cyperaceae
Juss.

Genera

See text.

The family Cyperaceae, or the sedge family, is a taxon of monocot flowering plants that superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 4,000 species described in about 70 genera.
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steppe (Russian: степь - [sʲtʲepʲ], Ukrainian: степ
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In most birds and reptiles, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo.
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endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in number, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters.
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Domestic geese are domesticated Grey geese (either Greylag geese or Swan geese) kept as poultry for their meat, eggs, and down feathers since ancient times.

Origins and characteristics


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Poultry is the category of domesticated birds kept for meat, eggs, and feathers. These most typically are members of the order Galliformes (which includes chickens and turkeys) and the family Anatidae (in order Anseriformes), commonly known as "waterfowl" (e.g.
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There are currently 15 breeds of geese recognized by the American Poultry Association. They are divided into three classes: Heavy, Medium and Light.

Heavy Class

Toulouse Goose (Gray)

Toulouse Goose (Buff)

Embden Goose (White)

African Goose (Brown)
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Handbook of the Birds of the World is a multi-volume series produced by Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions. It is the first handbook to cover every living species of bird. The series is edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott and Jordi Sargatal.
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IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List), created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
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IUCN

International Organization
Founded October 1948, Fontainebleau, France
Headquarters Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland

Key people Mr Valli Moosa
Ms Julia Marton-Lefèvre
Industry Natural resource conservation
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