Scientific name: Branta leucopsis (Bechstein, 1803)
Bird group: Geese
Field characters. 58-70 cm. Medium-sized goose with distinctive black, white, and grey plumage; face and forehead creamy white, with irregular black line from bill to eye. Upperparts blue-grey with blackish bars narrowly bordered white; rump white. Underparts pale greyish; under tail-coverts white; flanks strongly barred brown-grey. Legs and small bill black. Young birds with flanks more strongly barred, white of upper face tinged dusky, and rest of plumage duller.
Voice. At a distance, sounds uttered by flocks recall yelping of small dogs; usually a rapidly repeated series of short barks.
Distribution. Breeding pairs on Iceland, Gotland (Sweden), Estland and The Netherlands probably descendants of escaped birds.
Habitat. Breeds on inaccessible crags, hilltops, or islands; feeds on banks of rivers and lakes, and coastal fringes with plentiful growth of grasses, and on grassland.
Food. In the breeding area, feeds chiefly on grasses, sedges, catkins, leaves, and shoots. In winter mainly coastal, feeding on leaves, stems of grasses, stolons and seeds.
Eggs. Unmarked, ground colour grey-white, staining yellow during incubation. Texture not glossy. Shape long oval/short subelliptical/elliptical. Size 77 x 50 mm (68-82 x 46-54), weight 103 g (94-114).