Pink-footed Goose

Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus

Large numbers of Pink-footed Geese winter here in Norfolk.

adult and juvenile Pink-footed Geese, between Docking and Brancaster (Norfolk, UK), 16th November 2006

Pink-footed Goose, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 29th March 2008

Pink-footed Geese, between Shernborne (Norfolk, UK), 5th December 2011

Pink-footed Geese, south of Brancaster (Norfolk, UK), 13th November 2007

Birds showing white on the belly, often with a banded apppearance, turn up quite frequently. Typically these also have white primaries, though this is much more obvious when seen in flight.

Pink-footed Goose, north of Stanhoe (Norfolk, UK), 17th January 2004

Pink-footed Goose, Stanhoe (Norfolk, UK), 17th November 2003

Two birds together here with abnormal white on the body - most probably related:

Pink-footed Geese, west of Burnham Market (Norfolk, UK), 8th February 2014

Small amounts of white plumage, in this case small spots, around the base of the bill is a very common feature:

Pink-footed Goose, between Holme and Ringstead (Norfolk, UK), 10th November 2005

The first of these has a little more white around the bill base but still well within the bounds of normality:

Pink-footed Goose, Stanhoe (Norfolk, UK), 17th November 2003

This one is more unusual, with more extensive white around the bill and also a few white feathers around the eye:

Pink-footed Goose, Stanhoe (Norfolk, UK), 17th November 2003

And here is another one with white round the bill and a more obvious white 'spectacle'. This bird also had an unusually pale bill, seemingly lacking any black even on the nail. At times it was misidentified as a Lesser White-fronted Goose, and more careful observers mooted the idea that it might be a hybrid with Lesser White-fronted Goose. But of course Lesser White-fronted Goose has a pale (yellow) orbital ring, the bare skin around the eye, not a pale eye-ring (the feathers around the eye as on this bird), so this really does not indicate Lesser White-fronted influence.

Pink-footed Goose, Choseely (Norfolk, UK), 18th December 2016

Birds that are much paler than normal Pink-footed Geese are also frequently encountered. This one was particularly white but others can be more subtle, or more gingery or buffy.

Pink-footed Goose, south of Brancaster Staithe (Norfolk, UK), 13th December 2004

This one was more subtle but at most angles it stood out pretty well. Its silvery appearance is one I haven't encountered very often.

Pink-footed Goose, between Anmer and Shernborne (Norfolk, UK), 11th January 2011

At the other extreme, dark birds are often encountered too, especially among juveniles. This juvenile isn't nearly as extreme as some I've seen. Even among adults there is considerably more variation in tone than they are sometimes credited with.

Pink-footed Goose, south of Brancaster Staithe (Norfolk, UK), 29th November 2004

In the field this bird appeared to have an unmarked orange bill, but close inspection revealed that it was merely a pink-billed individual with its bill covered in a thin film of mud.

Pink-footed Goose, Ringstead (Norfolk, UK), 4th November 2005

These two birds showed a similar effect:

Pink-footed Geese, south of Brancaster (Norfolk, UK), 30th November 2006

Orange legs are commonly encountered on Pink-footed Geese, often leading to misidentification as Tundra Bean Goose. The proportion of birds with orange legs seems to vary from flock to flock, with some large flocks seemingly composed entirely of pink-legged birds but in other flocks maybe two or three birds with orange legs. The tone of orange varies too with some being dull orange and many being as bright and obvious as on any Bean or White-fronted Goose.

Pink-footed Goose, Choseley (Norfolk, UK), 4th November 2005