Lesser white-fronted goose

Voice

Higher and shriller than White-fronted Goose, fast and squeaky: kyu-yak or a disyllabic dyeep-dyeep with a squeezed undertone. In mixed goose flocks the pitch stands out once you are listening for it. Heard mainly on take-off and in flight, from November to March.

Identification

Small and compact, with a steep rounded head and a strikingly short, bright pink bill. The white blaze runs up the forehead well past the eye, clearly further than on White-fronted Goose. At close range the yellow eye-ring clinches it. On the standing bird the wingtips project well beyond the tail, giving a pointed rear end.

Confusion species

White-fronted Goose is the only serious confusion. It is bigger and longer-billed, lacks the yellow eye-ring, has a blaze stopping at the eye and wingtips barely reaching the tail tip. Lesser White-front also grazes noticeably fast and busily. On suspect birds check for rings and for oversized, wrong-looking proportions.

Habitat

Winters on short, heavily grazed grassland, saltmarsh and lake shores, usually at the edge of large mixed goose flocks. Feeds while walking, grazing rapidly on grasses and herbs. Breeds on arctic and subarctic mountain tundra in Fennoscandia and Russia, along streams and on damp slopes with dwarf birch.

Range and movements

The wild population breeds in northern Russia and in a small remnant in Norway and Sweden; the Fennoscandian birds winter in the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary and Greece. In the Netherlands birds from the Swedish reintroduction project are regular winter visitors in Friesland and the Delta. In Spain the species is a very rare vagrant.

• Resident
• Breeding (summer)
• Winter
• Passage
• Migration direction
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Where and when to look

December to February. Try the Frisian saltmarshes along the Wadden coast, the Oostvaardersplassen and the Delta. Scope White-front flocks systematically for the smallest bird with the shortest bill, then wait for it to raise its head so you can confirm the yellow eye-ring and the tall blaze before committing.

Conservation status

Globally much reduced and classed as Vulnerable. The main causes are hunting and disturbance along the flyways in eastern Europe and central Asia, together with habitat loss in the wintering areas. The Fennoscandian population hangs by a thread and is propped up by nest protection and reintroduction, with mixed results.