28 inches long with a wingspan of 53 inches. Sexes of the Greater White-fronted Goose are similar. The adult is mostly grayish-brown with irregular black mottling on the white belly. The undertail coverts are white and the tail is dark. There is a white patch at the base of the orange bill. The legs and feet are orange. In flight note the grayish-blue wash on the top of the wings and U-shaped rump band on the upperside of the tail.
The Greater White-fronted Goose is an unusual migrant that may be seen flying over the Forest from February through mid April and again in October through December.
With an early circumpolar arctic distribution, the Greater White-fronted Goose has the broadest range of any species in its genus. The Greater White-fronted Goose inhabits natural wetlands and agricultural lands. It is most commonly found west of the Mississippi River. Flocks fly high in a “V” formation while calling. The call is a high pitched laughing “kah-lah-aluck”.