Greylag Goose: how to recognise it
A bird seen on most continents. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Frans Vandewalle · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Anser anser
- Family
- Ducks, Geese, and Swans
- Size
- About 82 cm
- Habitat
- Wet grassland, lakes and farmland
- Found in
- Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Oceania
The key marks
Big grey goose with a thick orange bill, pink legs and a pale grey forewing in flight. White-fronted Goose is smaller, with a white blaze at the bill base and black bars on the belly.
Voice
Loud, farmyard-like honking 'aahng-ung-ung'.
Good to know
It is the wild ancestor of most farmyard geese in Europe.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Greater White-fronted Goose. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in wet grassland, lakes and farmland. It is especially common in the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.