Sergey Dereliev

Monotypic goose species breeding in the arctic tundras of Eastern Greenland, Iceland and also Svalbard, and wintering mainly in Great Britain, and from Denmark to Belgium. Considered a vagrant further south and east. The Greenland/Iceland population has almost doubled during the last two decades, and increased tenfold since 1960.

Season of assessment

W

Population trendIncreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		370000-377000,373000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Pink-footed Goose

The pattern of movements is dictated by links between the widespread breeding area and restricted wintering sites. Birds from Greenland and Iceland move SE while Svalbard birds move SW, producing a V or funnel ‘flyway’. As the species migrates in family groups in autumn, there are no age-specific migration strategies. There are two periods with many birds ringed: in the 1950s and in 2007-2010, with very few encounters outside these periods.

Recoveries by Condition for Pink-footed Goose

As for other geese, the vast majority (almost 95%) of recoveries before 1991 were of dead birds, although 25%  were of recaptures of live birds before 1961, reflecting the catching in the 1950s. More-recent records are largely of marked individuals identified from neck rings (85%). The heterogeneities in recovery conditions and dichotomy in recovery periods will probably not impact the migration pattern of the species, although climate change may have had an effect on phenology.

Annual Movements for Pink-footed Goose

Tracking data for the spring migration of birds breeding in Svalbard in the early 2010s showed that the birds wintered mainly in Denmark, but also in the Dutch Wadden Sea and in Belgium(Chudzińska et al. 2016). Most departures from Denmark to S Norway occurred in the first two dekads of April with most birds staging in Nord Trøndelag in late Apr and then in the Vesterålen islands in early May, arriving in Svalbard in mid-May (Tombre et al. 2008). A larger sample of birds has been tagged in Denmark very recently, but the data is not yet openly accessible. The very large increase of the NW populations wintering in Britain certainly drives the pattern of recent recoveries, although tracking data concern only NE birds.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Pink-footed Goose

Birds breeding in Greenland and Iceland cross the ocean to reach their wintering grounds in the British Isles, with most birds on the move from mid-Sep onwards;there are no records in Iceland at the end of Oct. Birds return to Iceland from the beginning of April and to Greenland in May, although a few birds over-summer in Britain. Moult migration of non- and failed breeders to Greenland, returning to Iceland late Sep to early Oct. Svalbard birds wintering around the N Sea start to move N at the beginning of Apr, migrating along the Norwegian coast to reach Svalbard during mid-May (Madsen et al. 1997). The first obvious southward movements from Svalbard occur during the second half of Sep, while most individuals are on the wintering grounds by mid-Oct. As most encounters are from two widely spaced, discrete time periods, this could influence the observed patterns of movement.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Chudzińska ME, Nabe-Nielsen J, Nolet BA, Madsen J2016 . Foraging behaviour and fuel accumulation of capital breeders during spring migration as derived from a combination of satellite- and ground-based observations. Journal of Avian Biology 47 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00899) : 1–12
Madsen J, Hansen F, Kristensen JB, Boyd H1997 . Spring migration strategies and stopover ecology of pink-footed geese. Results of field work in Norway, 1996. National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark
Tombre IM, et al.2008 . The onset of spring and timing of migration in two arctic nesting goose populations: the pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus and the barnacle goose Branta leucopsis. Journal of Avian Biology 39 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-048X.2008.04440.x) : 691–703

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