Pink-footed Goose

The Pink-footed Goose is a medium-sized "grey goose" with an overall brownish-grey body, a relatively small, dark head and neck, and a short, mostly black bill marked with a pink band. As its name suggests, the legs and feet are pink, a useful field mark shared with only a couple of similar species.

In flight, the goose shows a pale grey forewing and a neat, compact silhouette, and it is most often encountered in large, noisy skeins moving between roosting and feeding grounds.

Key field marks

• Small, rounded dark brown head contrasting with a paler grey-brown body
• Short bill, mostly black with a pink band near the tip
• Pink legs and feet
• Pale bluish-grey wing coverts visible in flight

Similar species

• Bean Goose: larger, longer-necked, with an orange (not pink) leg color and a longer bill with more orange
• Greylag Goose: larger, paler overall, with an orange bill and pink legs but lacking the small dark head

The small dark head paired with pink legs is the most reliable combination for separating this species from other grey geese.

Range and habitat

Pink-footed Geese breed on Arctic tundra and moorland in Iceland, eastern Greenland, and Svalbard, nesting near rivers, lakes, and rocky outcrops.

Migration

The species migrates south in autumn to winter almost entirely in Great Britain (especially Scotland and eastern England), Denmark, and the Low Countries, where flocks feed on farmland stubble, root crop remnants, and grasslands, often gathering in flocks of tens of thousands at traditional sites.

Behavior

Highly gregarious, Pink-footed Geese form immense wintering flocks that commute daily between safe estuary or reservoir roosts and inland feeding fields, producing spectacular mass flights at dawn and dusk.

Voice

The call is a high, musical "wink-wink" or "ang-ank," softer and higher-pitched than the calls of larger grey geese.

Feeding

Outside the breeding season they feed heavily on agricultural land, gleaning waste grain, potatoes, and sugar beet tops, as well as grazing on grass.

Nesting and breeding

Nests are built as down-lined scrapes on the ground, often on cliff ledges or rocky islands to avoid Arctic fox predation; pairs are monogamous and family groups remain together through the winter migration.