Swan goose
Anser cygnoides (Linnaeus, 1758)
The swan goose (Anser cygnoides) is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a medium-sized, migratory herbivore of wetland habitats, with a terrestrial lifestyle and an adult body mass of 3.475 kg.
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the swan goose
The swan goose lays one clutch per year with a clutch size of 5.5, and its eggs incubate for 29 days. It is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category, and has a geographic range of 2,166,000 km².
- Weight
- 3.15 kg – 3.54 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.65 m – 1.85 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 31 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 29 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the swan goose?
Photos of the swan goose
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the swan goose live?
Not recorded
What is the swan goose?
The swan goose (Anser cygnoides) is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, Northeast 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, Taiwan, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
While uncommon in the wild, this species has been extensively domesticated, when it is known as Chinese goose. Introduced and feral populations of its domestic breeds occur in many places outside its natural range. The wild form is also kept in collections, and escapes are not unusual amongst feral flocks of other Anser and Branta geese.
From the Wikipedia article “Swan goose” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swan_goose&oldid=1384730858), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the swan goose endangered?
The swan goose is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the swan goose classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusAnser
- SpeciesAnser cygnoides (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Anas cygnoid, Anas cygnoides, Anser cygnoid, Anser cygnoides ferus, Cycnopsis cycnoides, Cygnopsis cygnoid, Cygnopsis cygnoides
Other names and names in other languages (63)
- إوز التمArabic
- إوز صينيArabic
- QuruburunAzerbaijani
- Лебедоподобна гъскаBulgarian
- Gwaz-alarc'hBreton
- oca cigneCatalan
- Ngângcdo
- husa labutíCzech
- AlarchŵyddWelsh
- SvanegåsDanish
- SchwanengansGerman
- Κυκνοειδής ΧήναGreek
- cigna anseroEsperanto
- Ánsar cisnalSpanish
- Ánsar cisne o cisnalSpanish
- Ganso cisne asiáticoSpanish
- stepihaniEstonian
- غاز قونماPersian
- joutsenhanhiFinnish
- Oie cygnoïdeFrench
- Ganso chinésGalician
- Ganso cisnoideGalician
- אווז ברבוריHebrew
- labudolika guskaCroatian
- kínai hattyúlúdHungarian
- Oca cignoItalian
- Oca cignoideItalian
- サカツラガンJapanese
- Қытай қазыKazakh
- Қутұмсық қазKazakh
- 개리Korean
- gulbinė žąsisLithuanian
- Laibasnapė žąsisLithuanian
- lielknābja zossLatvian
- KuihiMāori
- Хошуу галууMongolian
- Chʼah Diʼilii Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ naalʼeełítsohNavajo
- SwaangoosLow German
- ZwaangansDutch
- Gęś chińskaPolish
- Gęś garbonosaPolish
- gęś łabędzionosaPolish
- Gęś łabędziowaPolish
- ganso-cisnePortuguese
- Ganso-africanoPortuguese
- ganso-chinêsPortuguese
- СухоносRussian
- Хара тумустаах хаасYakut
- hus labutiaSlovak
- лабуд гускаSerbian
- Лабудаста густаSerbian
- Labudasta guskaSerbian
- svangåsSwedish
- Кытай казыTatar
- ห่านคอขาวThai
- ห่านเทาปากดำThai
- Çin KazıTurkish
- Kuğu KazıTurkish
- гуска китайськаUkrainian
- Ngỗng thiên ngaVietnamese
- 鴻雁Chinese
- 鸿雁Chinese
- RoegnyanhZhuang
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the swan goose
Other species in the same genus Anser.
Greylag goose
Anser anser
Taiga bean goose
Anser fabalis
Bar-headed goose
Anser indicus
Greater white-fronted goose
Anser albifrons
Snow goose
Anser caerulescens
Lesser white-fronted goose
Anser erythropus
CompareSwan goose vs Greylag gooseSwan goose vs Taiga bean gooseSwan goose vs Bar-headed gooseSwan goose vs Greater white-fronted goose
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
Is the swan goose endangered?
Yes. The swan goose is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How heavy is a swan goose?
An adult Swan goose weighs 3.475 kg, with reported values from 3.15 to 3.538 kg.
What is the wingspan of a swan goose?
The swan goose has a wingspan of 1.75 m, with reported values from 1.65 to 1.85 m.
What does the swan goose eat?
The swan goose is a herbivore.
How long does a swan goose live?
The swan goose has a lifespan of 31 years.
How many eggs does a swan goose lay?
The swan goose has a clutch size of 5.5 and lays one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 29 days.
What kind of animal is the swan goose?
The swan goose is a migratory bird in the waterfowl subgroup, part of the family Anatidae and the genus Anser.
Who named the swan goose?
The swan goose was named Anser cygnoides by (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Swan goose (Anser cygnoides). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swan-goose
“Swan goose (Anser cygnoides).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swan-goose.
@misc{swan_goose_2026,
title = {Swan goose (Anser cygnoides)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swan-goose},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}