Greenland White-fronted Goose

Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris

This race of Greater White-fronted Goose, treated by some authorites as a full species, is a rare visitor here in Norfolk but one or two crop up among the Pink-footed Goose flocks most winters and occasionally on their own or with Russian White-fronted Geese.

Although the orange bill is perhaps the most famous identification character it is not necessarily the most reliable, and certainly not sufficient on its own to identify a Greenland in a vagrant context. Russian White-fronted Goose can appear orange-billed and I think Greenlands can sometimes be more pinky (and in some lights the colours can be difficult to discern accurately). Sometimes a more obvious character is their overall dark tones (causing the white flank line to stand out more), and this is often the character than enables them to be picked out among Pink-foot flocks before the bill colour is seen or noticed. Typically the adults also have more extensive belly and a narrower white tip to the tail. Structurally they are slightly bigger, bigger-necked and thicker-billed, though I find these differences to be too subtle to be of primary importance.

Greenland White-fronted Goose (with Pink-footed Geese), north of Stanhoe (Norfolk, UK), 5th January 2005

Greenland White-fronted Goose (with Pink-footed Geese), between Docking and Syderstone (Norfolk, UK), 21st November 2006

This party of five birds was an unusual event here, and they preferred their own company to that of the Pink-footed Goose or Russian White-fronted Goose flocks (seen here mixing with the local Barnacle Goose flock but I'm not sure they were really associating with them).

Greenland White-fronted Geese (with Barnacle Geese), Holkham (Norfolk, UK), 5th January 2005