Inland England

The pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) breeds in two separate populations in the high north: a western population on Iceland and in eastern Greenland, and an eastern population on Svalbard. Its breeding habitat consists of barren rocky slopes, marshes and river islands, often in colonies above 400 metres elevation. In mid-July the birds undergo wing moult and remain flightless for about 25 days before departing for their wintering grounds from August onwards.

The main wintering areas lie in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium and along the Danish coast. On the German North Sea coast the species passes through the German Bight and the Wadden Sea during autumn and spring migration, although many former roosting sites were lost to dyke construction. In central Europe it feeds on grassland and short-grazed farmland and frequently mixes with white-fronted geese, tundra bean geese and taiga bean geese.

For hunters in the DACH region the pink-footed goose carries little practical relevance. In Germany it occurs only as a very rare passage migrant and winter visitor between October and March, with just a few hundred individuals recorded each year. It closely resembles the tundra bean goose but can be told apart by its short, dark bill with a narrow pink band and by its pink legs. From the greylag goose it differs in its noticeably darker head and neck and its paler back.