Tundra Bean-Goose
Anser serrirostris
Rather large, dark gray-brown goose with typically small orange patch on bill, and orange legs. In flight lacks contrasting pale forewing areas of Pink-footed Goose and Graylag Goose. Not always safely told in the field from Taiga Bean Goose, but Tundra averages a shorter and thicker bill, vs. the longer, more sloping bill of Taiga. Breeds on tundra and winters in farmland and wetlands, where it associates readily with other geese.
Identification
The length ranges from 68 to 90 cm (27–35 in), wingspan from 140 to 174 cm (55–69 in) and weight from 1.7–4 kg (3.7–8.8 lb). In the nominate subspecies, males average 3.2 kg (7.1 lb) and females average 2.84 kg (6.3 lb). The bill is black at the base and tip, with an orange band across the middle; the legs and feet are also bright orange.<p>The upper wing-coverts are dark brown, as in the white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) and the lesser white-fronted goose (A. erythropus), but differing from these in having narrow white fringes to the feathers.<p>The voice is a loud honking, higher pitched in the smaller subspecies.<p>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.
Taxonomy
There are two subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Anser serrirostris
- Authority
- Gould, 1852
- Order
- Anseriformes
- Family
- Anatidae
- Genus
- Anser
Range and habitat
The tundra bean goose has no regular wintering sites, but is found in small groups among other grey goose species – among the most regular localities are WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire and Holkham Marshes, Norfolk.
Photos
Bird Calls
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