There are eight currently recognized species of North American geese:
emperor, greater white-fronted, snow, Ross's, Canada and cackling,
barnacle, and brant geese. This book describes each species' geographic
range and subspecies, its identification traits, weights and
measurements, and criteria for its age and sex determination. Ecological
and behavioral information includes each species' breeding and wintering
habitats, its foods and foraging behavior, its local and long distance
movements, and its relationships with other species. Reproductive
information includes each species' age of maturity, pair-bond pattern,
pair-forming behaviors, usual clutch sizes and incubation periods,
brooding behavior, and postbreeding behavior. Mortality sources and
rates of egg, young, and adult losses are summarized, and the past and
current populations of all species are estimated. The book includes 8
maps, 21 line drawings, 28 photographs by the author, and more than 700
literature citations.