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Emperor goose

Anser canagicus · Geese · Waterfowl · Migratory game birds

Emperor goose (Anser canagicus): Gray body with white head, black foreneck and chin, and scaly pattern on the body; length 66-71 cm. Blue-morph Snow Goose is somewhat similar but lacks the black foreneck and scaly pattern. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the emperor goose map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Emperor goose resting on the ground
Photo by Michael Hamments on Unsplash
Scientific name
Anser canagicus
Family
Anatidae
In North America
Native
Range
More than 90 percent of the breeding population nests in the eastern Bering Sea region of western Alaska (Kuskokwim Bay to Kotzebue Sound), with small numbers in eastern Asia. Most winter in the Aleutian Islands; autumn strays reach Oregon and California.
Biology

How to identify it

Gray body with white head, black foreneck and chin, and scaly pattern on the body; length 66-71 cm. [1][2]

Blue-morph Snow Goose is somewhat similar but lacks the black foreneck and scaly pattern. [1][2]

Juvenile in first fall has an all-dark head, neck and bill. [1][2]

Loud musical call, kla-ha, kla-ha, kla-ha. [1][2]

Compared with the snow goose (blue morph): Emperor Goose has a black foreneck and chin and a scaly body pattern; the blue morph has a gray body and white head without them. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a emperor goose before you act. Compared with the snow goose (blue morph): Emperor Goose has a black foreneck and chin and a scaly body pattern; the blue morph has a gray body and white head without them.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Summer on tundra, mostly low marshy tundra within 10 miles of coast; winter on rocky shores and mudflats. Closely tied to salt water at all seasons. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Short-distance migrant, often in large flocks; stages for weeks on large lagoons on the north shore of the Alaska Peninsula [1][2]

On breeding grounds forages on land, grubbing roots and grazing fresh growth; in migration and winter feeds on mudflats exposed by falling tides [1][2]

Diet is plant material in summer (roots, bulbs, sedges, crowberry or blueberry) and clams, mussels and marine algae in migration and winter [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

More than 90 percent of the breeding population nests in the eastern Bering Sea region of western Alaska (Kuskokwim Bay to Kotzebue Sound), with small numbers in eastern Asia. Most winter in the Aleutian Islands; autumn strays reach Oregon and California.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. National Audubon Society · reviewed 2026-09-30

    National Audubon Society

  2. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe