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  • Brent goose

Brent goose

Brent goose (Dark bellied)
Brent goose (Dark bellied)
Brent goose (pale bellied)
Brent goose (pale bellied)
  • Scientific name: Branta bernicla
  • Bird family: Ducks, geese and swans
  • UK conservation status: Amber
  • Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Brent goose call

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David Farrow, Xeno-canto

Key information

The brent goose is a small, dark goose - of similar size to a mallard. It has a black head and neck and grey-brown back, with either a pale or dark belly, depending on the race. Adults have a small white neck patch. It flies in loose flocks along the coast, rather than in tight skeins like grey geese. It is an Amber List species because of the important numbers found at just a few sites.

What they eat:

Vegetation, especially eel-grass.

Measurements:

Length:
56-61cm
Wingspan:
110-120cm
Weight:
1.3 to 1.6 kg

Population:

UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.
UK wintering:
102,000

Identifying features:

Brent goose

Dark-bellied brent goose
Feather colour: Black Brown Grey White
Leg colour: Black
Beak: Black Medium length Duck-like Chunky
Natural habitats: Farmland Grassland Marine and intertidal Wetland

Where and when to see them

Brent geese can be seen around estuaries and saltmarshes. Main concentrations of dark-bellied birds in the Wash, the North Norfolk coastal marshes, Essex estuaries, the Thames Estuary and Chichester and Langstone Harbours. Most light-bellied birds are found at Strangford Lough and Lough Foyle, N Ireland and at Lindisfarne, Northumberland.

* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  • Resident
  • Passage
  • Summer
  • Winter
Brent goose distribution map

Birds arrive in October and depart again in April.

  • jan
  • feb
  • mar
  • apr
  • may
  • jun
  • jul
  • aug
  • sep
  • oct
  • nov
  • dec

RSPB reserves

  • RSPB Bowling Green and Goosemoor
  • RSPB Stour Estuary
  • RSPB Frampton Marsh
  • RSPB Medmerry
  • RSPB Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve
  • RSPB Wallasea Island
  • RSPB Old Hall Marshes
  • RSPB Tetney Marshes
  • RSPB Darts Farm
  • RSPB Exminster and Powderham Marshes
  • RSPB Langstone Harbour
  • RSPB Lough Foyle
  • RSPB Freiston Shore

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Brent goose flock flying low over wetland, Wallasea Island RSPB reserve, Essex

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