Conservation status: Amber
A medium-sized, sociable goose, with black head, neck and breast with creamy-white face, which contrasts with the white belly, blue-grey barred back and black tail. It flies in packs and long lines, with a noisy chorus of barking or yapping sounds.
Latin name
Branta leucopsis
Family
Swans, ducks and geese (Anatidae)
Where to see them
Largest numbers on the Solway Firth (England and Scotland) and on Islay, Scotland.
When to see them
October until March.
What they eat
Leaves, stems, roots and seeds.
Population
| Europe | UK breeding* | UK wintering* | UK passage* | | >370,000 wintering | 1,000 birds (feral) | 58,000 from the Greenland breeding population, 33,000 from Svalbard in northern Russia and 2,700 from the feral UK populations | - |
- In the UK
- West of Scotland, especially Solway Firth and Islay.
- In Europe
- Spitzbergen (breeding), Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands (wintering)
- Worldwide
- Greenland, Spitzbergen and N Russia (breeding), W Europe (wintering)