Upland Goose (Chloephaga picta)

These are not really geese, but "sheldgeese" more closely related to shelducks than to true geese. This is a male. Females have a brown head. Two subspecies are recognized. This is the larger race "C. p. leucoptera" where the males are never barred on the chest. It is confined to the Falkland Islands and may be a cryptic species. Mainland males are polymorphic, some with chest barring and others not. A common species, numbers continue to be stable or increasing despite persecution by sheep ranchers.