Bean Goose
From WikiBird
Contents |
Size
Length: ??cm (??in), Wingspan: ??cm (??in)
Field Marks
The bill is black at the base and tip, with an orange band across the middle; the legs and feet are also bright orange. The upper wing-coverts are dark brown, as in the White-fronted Goose and the Lesser White-fronted Goose, but differing from these in having narrow white fringes to the feathers. There are five subspecies, with complex variation in body size and bill size and pattern; generally, size increases from north to south and from west to east.
Similar species
The closely related Pink-footed Goose (A. brachyrhynchus) has the bill short, bright pink in the middle, and the feet also pink, the upper wing-coverts being nearly of the same bluish-grey as in the Greylag Goose. In size and bill structure, it is very similar to Anser fabalis rossicus, and in the past was often treated as a sixth subspecies of Bean Goose.
Sounds
A loud honking, higher pitched in the smaller subspecies.
Feeding & Behavior
Grazes in bean field stubbles in winter.
Habitat & Nesting
Range
Breeds in northern Europe and Asia. It is migratory and winters further south in Europe and Asia.
Resources
