Page 96 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WILDFOWL
Order Anseriformes Family Anatidae Species Anser fabalis
Bean Goose dark brown orange band
head on black bill
broad dark dark grey
tail-band wings
cream bars across brown
back (less regular bars on
extended juvenile)
fine neck
white
tail tip pale brown
breast
ADULT
IN FLIGHT

yellow-orange
legs
his large, social goose
Treturns each winter to
traditional areas, feeding in the
same fields and roosting on the
same lakes year after year.A dark brown ADULT
goose, it has two basic forms, one long-necked
and long-billed, the other shorter-necked and more like a Pink-
footed Goose in appearance. Except in the Low Countries it is a
scarce bird, not usually seen in large numbers. Its long, dark head FLIGHT: strong and direct, long neck obvious; in
and neck and cleanly barred back help to identify it in flocks of lines of “V”s.
White-fronted Geese, with FLOCKS
which it sometimes mingles. Bean Geese feed in flocks, at
VOICE Deep, two- or three- times mixing with other geese,
syllable trumpeting, ung-ung or often on arable land.
unk-uk-uk.
NESTING Down- and feather-
lined hollow on ground near bog
pools, in open tundra or in forest
clearings; 4–6 eggs; 1 brood; June.
FEEDING Grazes on short grass;
picks up grain and root crops from
stubble or ploughed fields,often in
traditional areas used for decades.
SIMILAR SPECIES SUBSPECIES OCCURRENCE
Breeds in N Scandinavia on bogs
PINK-FOOTED GOOSE GREYLAG GOOSE pale A. f. rossicus orange and tundra pools. In winter, mostly
see p.95 pale grey on wings bill (NW Siberia) patch around S Baltic/North Sea and
greyer in flight; see p.96 on bill
and pink on E Europe; one flock in England,
paler short one in Scotland. These are in
bill traditional sites, threatened by
shorter disturbance and habitat change.
pink legs neck
pink legs Seen in the UK
JF M A M J JA S O N D
Length 66–84cm (26–33in) Wingspan 1.47–1.75m (4 3 ⁄4 –5 3 ⁄4ft) Weight 2.6–3.2kg (5 3 ⁄4 –7lb)
Social Flocks Lifespan Up to 10 years Status Secure
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