Pink Footed Goose

OTHER NAMES- - In France they call the bird, Oie á bec court. In Spain it is Ansar piquicorto, Germany- Kurzschnabelgans, Denmark- Kortnæbbet gås, in Norway- Kortnebbgås, Sweden- Spestbergsgås, Iceland- Heiðagæs and in Greenland they call the bird, Nerleq.

The Pink Footed Goose, which stands about 27 inches tall and has a wing span of about five feet, is related to the Bean Goose. Their toes are webbed and their legs in the middle of their under belly that makes it difficult to see their legs at distance. Their beak is shaped like a small triangle and colored black with a pink band. The Pink Footed Goose has a short neck and a small rounded dark brownish, grey head.

The adult bird has a pale brownish, grey neck and body. The back of their body is colored with a bluish, grey gloss, and at times display a pinkish, buff on it chest. Their flank area is the darkest part of their body, even darker than their back. When flying their under parts of their wings appear very pale.

On an immature Pink Footed Goose the coloration appears browner with a more bluish, grey gloss on its back. The legs of the young bird seem paler in color and not as much less pink on its beak.

The pink footed goose inhabits many parts of Great Britain. While looking out of the upstairs window the bird watcher observed several hundred pink footed geese grazing, preening and splashing in the pools made by the rain. While watching the geese many of the males chased each other. The males when on the chase always lowered their necks and spread their wings. With all this noise and confusion some geese took to the wing and landed in a more peaceful place a short distance from the chaos. Soon when low flying planes flew over the area all the geese took flight. Most of the birds flew to the sea while others chose to graze in a distant field.

Many of the geese build their nests on canyon walls and the peaks of the cliffs in the canyons with no snow and above thawing, rushing and flooding water. The geese breeds on mountainsides and Arctic tundra in Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard. Variety of nest sites from vertical cliff-faces to flat dry ground. In most cases a nest is about five yards from

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