dark-bellied

dark-bellied pale-bellied European distribution dark-bellied form

Identification

The Brent Goose is smaller and much darker overall than the other 'black geese' and has a shorter, thicker neck, marked in the adults by a little white smudgy half collar. From a distance they can look all dark apart from the gleaming white under-tail area. The pale-bellied form looks much cleaner and more attractive.

Habitat

Winters on estuaries, grass and cereal fields.

Migration

Birds leave breeding grounds after post-breeding moult in early September. Birds usually arrive in Britain in October, departing March-April. Pale-bellied Brent Geese (B.b.hrota) breeding on Svalbard all winter in Denmark and NE England; those which winter in Ireland come from Canada and Greenland.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Brent Goose is classed as Local: generally fairly regular or common species that a 'county lister' or a birding beginner might be interested in going to see. (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance.)

Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex 08/02/2010	Frampton Marsh RSPB, Lincs 01/02/2010	Thornham, Norfolk 31/01/2010	Thornham, Norfolk 31/01/2010	Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk 30/01/2010
Shibdon Pond, Durham 30/01/2010	Musselburgh, Lothian 27/01/2010	Keyhaven Harbour, Hants 06/01/2010	Keyhaven Harbour, Hants 06/01/2010	Shibdon Pond, Durham 17/01/2010

 View all pictures of Brent Goose

Brent Goose breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Greenland
Russia
Svalbard

http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob1680.htm   BTO BirdFacts: Brent Goose	Edit this link
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	Winter Geese: Part 2 – The 'Branta' geese (Full Text)	Tuesday 10th February 2004
	The 'Branta' geese form an extremely attractive group of birds, with most interest in recent years focussed on 'brent geese' and 'canada geese': the former for potential species 'splits' and the latter for the identification of vagrants amongst wild geese flocks in northwest Scotland and Ireland.

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