The Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) is a neat, pale grey goose with pink legs and a short dark bill marked with a pink band. It does not breed in Sweden but stops over in very large flocks, chiefly on the farmland of Skåne, during migration. It breeds on Greenland, Iceland, and Svalbard and winters in western Europe, and is closely related to — and easily confused with — the Bean Goose and Tundra Bean Goose. The bird measures 64–76 cm with a wingspan of 137–161 cm and weighs 2,200–2,700 grams, smaller and neater than the Greylag Goose. The body is pale blue-grey with a darker, contrasting head and neck; the short dark bill with its pink band and the pink legs are the key distinctions from the Bean Goose, which has orange legs and a longer bill, and a pale blue-grey forewing shows in flight.
The call is a high-pitched, fluting "wink-wink", lighter and more piping than other geese, and a large flock produces a distinctive ringing chorus. In Sweden the species occurs only as a passage and winter visitor, appearing chiefly in Skåne, where tens of thousands can rest during October–November and again in spring, in farmland and on coastal meadows, present roughly from October to April; the Vombsjön area and southwestern Skåne are classic staging sites. It does not breed here — on Svalbard, Iceland, and Greenland it nests in loose colonies on tundra slopes and cliffs, usually near water and sheltered from Arctic fox, arriving early to make the most of the short Arctic summer, with pairs staying together year after year and young remaining with the parents through their first autumn and winter. During its stay in Sweden it grazes on stubble fields, ley, and winter cereals, taking spilt grain, green grass, beet tops, and roots, commuting daily between roosting waters and feeding grounds in large, noisy flocks; on the Arctic breeding grounds it instead feeds on grass, sedge, moss, and roots. The population has grown strongly in recent decades and the species is classed as Least Concern.
Read about this species in Swedish →