Denver-Boulder Metro Area: Birds

This guide contains birds that can be found in the Denver-Boulder Metro Area, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties.

Greater White-fronted Goose

The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is a species of goose. The greater white-fronted goose is closely related to the smaller lesser white-fronted goose (A. erythropus). In Europe it has been known as simply "white-fronted goose"; in North America it is known as the greater white-fronted goose (or "greater whitefront"), and this name is also ...more ↓

Greylag Goose

The greylag goose (Anser anser) is a large species of goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and pink legs. A large bird, it measures between 74 and 91 centimetres (29 and 36 in) in length, with an average weight of 3.3 kilograms (7.3 lb). Its distribution is widespread, with birds from the north of its range ...more ↓

Snow Goose

Long-term pair bonds are usually formed in the second year, although breeding does not usually start until the third year. Females are strongly philopatric, meaning they will return to the place they hatched to breed.

Swan Goose

The swan goose (Anser cygnoides) is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, northernmost China, and southeastern Russia. It is migratory and winters mainly in central and eastern China. Vagrant birds are encountered in Japan and Korea (where it used to winter in numbers when it was more common), and more rarely in Kazakhstan, Laos, coastal Siberia, ...more ↓

Domestic Swan Goose

The swan goose (Anser cygnoides) is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, northernmost China, and the Russian Far East. It is migratory and winters mainly in central and eastern China. Vagrant birds are encountered in Japan and Korea (where it used to winter in numbers when it was more common), and more rarely in Kazakhstan, Laos, coastal Siberia, ...more ↓

Ross's Goose

Ross's goose (Anser rossii) is a white goose with black wingtips and a relatively short neck, and is the smallest of the three light geese that breed in North America. It is similar in appearance to a white-phase snow goose, but about 40% smaller. Other differences from the snow goose are that the bill is smaller in proportion to its body and lacks "black lips". The dark phase ...more ↓

Edited by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)