White-fronted goose

Anser albifrons
  • Where it lives:

  • Non native species

About

The white-fronted goose is a winter visitor, arriving from Greenland and Siberia at the end of October, and returning north again at the end of March. It eats roots, shoots, tubers and leaves, as well as grains and oats.

How to identify

The white-fronted goose is most easily distinguished from other geese by the white flash on its forehead and around its bill, the dark stripes on its belly and its orange legs. Siberian birds have pink bills, while Greenland birds have orange bills.

Did you know?

The collective noun for a group of geese is a 'gaggle'. More than 15,000 white-fronted geese overwinter in in the UK; they can be seen in gaggles on our wetland and farmland habitats.