Keeping track of a vulnerable sub-species
About Greenland White-fronted Geese
The Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons breeds more or less continuously around the Arctic from Alaska through mid-continent Canada, in West Greenland and from European Russia to Far East Asia. The discrete population of the species, the Greenland White-fronted Goose which summers in west Greenland and winters in Britain and Ireland is the subspecies Anser albifrons flavirostris – the most morphologically distinct (being larger and most dark coloured) and most genetically distinct of all the other forms found in the world. This is what the fuss is all about!
Why is this goose important?
Individuals from this population are amongst the largest and genetically distinct of any Greater White-fronted Geese anywhere in the world. This makes us think they have been relatively isolated from other forms for very many generations. At the moment, their numbers globally are small, currently numbering just over 18,000 individuals in 2023, having declined rapidly from some 35,600 at peak in 1999.
Where does this goose breed, stage and winter?
The Greenland White-fronted Goose summers and nests in west Greenland between Nuuk (64 degrees N) and Upernavik (72 degrees N). In autumn, it migrates to Iceland, where it stops off in the western and southern lowlands from mid-September to mid-November, before wintering in northern and western Scotland, Anglesey and mid-Wales, as well as in western, midland and northern Ireland. The greatest concentrations occur in winter at Wexford Slobs in SE Ireland and on Islay in the Inner Hebrides. The geese again stage during April in southern and western Iceland on migration back to their summering areas in spring.
How do we try to conserve the goose?
Research and volunteer actions are both key to the conservation of this goose….
What fieldwork and expeditions contribute to our knowledge of the goose?
Fieldwork across the full range of the GWGS habitat from Greenland to Britain and Ireland contribute greatly to our knowledge…
How can I help?
We rely on an army of volunteers to help us report back on breeding success and numbers, especially in the wintering grounds. Your sightings of Greenland White-fronted Geese can help us gain information about this threatened bird.
What has been written about the Greenland White-fronted Goose?
A great deal; from magazine articles to scientific journal articles. Find out more using this page as your starting point.
What is the Greenland White-fronted Goose Study?
Back in 1977 a group of students at Aberystwyth University started planning an expedition to Greenland to find out more about the local flock of Greenland White-fronted Geese. Find out more.
What’s a fun fact about Greenland White-fronted Goose?
Goose ecologists spend a lot of time gazing at goose bottoms, but there is a good scientific reason for doing so! Geese store the fat in their bodies that they later need to fuel long migration flights and to invest in laying a clutch of eggs and incubating them on the breeding grounds. Much of this fat is laid down under the skin and around body organs, but many wild goose species accumulate a thick block of fat in their abdomen, just under the tail. In the spring prelude to migration, this accumulation of fat becomes very conspicuous as the abdomen become distended. So much so that you can fairly accurately judge the fat content of a goose’s body from the shape of it’s rear end!
Where do the geese winter in Great Britain?
Zoom in and out below (cookies must be accepted to view). Click on a pin to find out more or use the menu above or the inventory page.
News updates
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Staging in Iceland
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in re-sightingsDaniel Bergmann, wildlife and landscape photographer in Iceland in April 2024 alerted us to the following sightings: Five ringed GWF at Þykkvibær (Thykkvibaer), Iceland, April 17. One w/transmitter HTA3A (w/smaller logger)A8A (paired w/A3A)A9AA5C We are very grateful to Daniel for his sightings, especially of ringed and collared birds and were able to give him some…
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Video: RSPB making Loch Lomond better for GWGs
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Greenland White-fronted geese are rare winter visitors the UK. One of the places they come back to year after year is RSPB Scotland’s Loch Lomond nature reserve. The reserve team work hard to make it a place where the geese can feed and rest up, ready to head North for the breeding season. Join Warden…
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2022/23 Wintering Report
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in CountingEvery year the wintering sites of the Greenland White-fronted Goose in Britain and Ireland are counted and breeding success noted. This work is done mainly by volunteers and the results inform the understanding of what is happening to this vulnerable sub-species. The report for the latest complete winter season is now available on the site…
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Seen a collared bird?
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in CountingIf you have seen a collared Greenland Whitefronted Goose, most likely at one their wintering grounds in the UK and Ireland then please let us know date and location as well as the collar ID of course. You can use the comment form at the end of this post.
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In search of Loch Lomond’s White-fronts
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in Countingby Ian Francis & Nicky Penford We’re fortunate in that most Greenland White-front wintering sites have dedicated people living locally who count the birds during the winter as part of our UK and Ireland count network. They do a great job in checking the geese and recording vital parameters. But supplementary information is always useful,…
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Goose time sundial
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Loch Lomond is an important wintering site for Greenland White-fronted Geese, with recent counts peaking at just under 200 birds. The geese use farmland to the south of Loch Lomond as well as the RSPB reserve by the loch. The local RSPB team and many volunteers count the geese each winter, providing data for the…
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About the Greenland White-fronted Goose
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in GeneralThe Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris Latest field trip: Greenland 2010 Latest update: Archive video of the first 1979 expedition added, Spring 2010 report, small sites report The Greenland White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons flavirostris, breeds in west Greenland, and migrates via Iceland to winter in Ireland and Britain. It is the most distinctive race…
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The Greenland White-fronted Goose Study census network
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in GeneralThe first description of the numbers and distribution of wintering flocks of Greenland White-fronted Geese in Ireland and Britain was compiled by Major Robin Ruttledge and Malcolm Ogilvie and published in the 1979 volume of Irish Birds. For most Irish flocks, often wintering in remote bogland habitats, there were no regular counts to give a…
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Broubster Leans SSSI becomes RSPBs latest reserve acquisition
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in GeneralBroubster Leans SSSI has just become the lastet reserve to be acquired by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, adding another layer of site sfaeguard to this important wetland and the most regularly used roost site for the Westfield flock of Caithness wintering Greenland White-fronted Geese. The press release reads:
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Greenland white-fronts – alive and well in Africa
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in MeetingsThere are those occasional days that make up for all the rest. Today was one of the former.I’d been invited to the launch of World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) in northern Kenya – immediately prior to the international avian influenza symposium I’m attending in Nairobi. All I knew was that we would be taken there…