Lesser White-fronted Goose

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Lesser White-fronted Goose in the UK

The Lesser White-fronted Goose is on the British List in Category A as a rare vagrant, and in Category E because it is widely kept in collections. The first was shot at Fenham Flats, Northumberland, in 1886. BBRC statistics give 114 birds between 1950 and 2015, with a long decline over that period and only a handful since 2000. The species is globally Vulnerable and its European breeding population has collapsed, so wild birds are now extreme rarities here. Escaped birds, and marked birds from a Swedish reintroduction scheme, make every modern record hard to judge.

Where and when to see a Lesser White-fronted Goose

Wild birds arrive with other geese, so check big winter flocks from December to March. Most past records were among Russian White-fronted Geese at WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, where one or more appeared in most winters from 1945 into the 1950s. Others have been with Bean Geese in the Yare Valley, Norfolk, around Buckenham. News breaks when someone working through a flock with a telescope finds a small bird with a yellow eye-ring. A lone tame bird on a park lake with Greylags or Canadas is an escape.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Wet meadows (very rare).
Diet: Grass.
Field note: Yellow eye-ring; sometimes mixed in.

How to identify a Lesser White-fronted Goose

A small, compact grey goose, clearly smaller than a White-front beside it, with a short neck, a rounded head and a steep forehead. The bill is short, small and bright pink. The white blaze is narrower and runs up onto the forecrown, ending in a point above the eye. A swollen yellow eye-ring shows at all ages and is the key mark, though you need a good telescope view. The wingtips project well beyond the tail. Adults have fewer black belly bars than a White-front. It walks and pecks faster than the birds around it.

Call and song

Higher-pitched and squeakier than a White-fronted Goose, a quick yelping "kyu-yu-yu". Hard to pick out from a noisy flock, so it is rarely how one is found in Britain. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• White-fronted Goose: White-front is larger with a longer bill, a white blaze that stops at the forehead and no obvious yellow eye-ring (a few show a thin, faint one).
• Greylag Goose: Greylag is much bigger and paler with a heavy orange bill and no white forehead blaze.

Related guide UK winter wildfowl.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Lesser White-fronted Goose is an Epic tier bird, worth +20 points when you log one. It is not on the Red or Amber lists in Birds of Conservation Concern 5.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Greater Snow GooseEpic · Wet grassland (very rare)
• Snow GooseRare · Wet grassland (rare visitor)
• White-fronted GooseUncommon · Wet meadows (winter)
• Taiga Bean GooseRare · Damp fields (winter)
• Tundra Bean GooseRare · Damp fields (winter)
• Greylag GooseCommon · Lakes

Lesser White-fronted Goose: quick answers

Has a Lesser White-fronted Goose been seen in the UK?

Yes. There are more than a hundred accepted birds, starting with one in Northumberland in 1886. Nearly all came with wintering flocks of White-fronted or Bean Geese. Accepted wild birds have been very few this century.

Is the Lesser White-fronted Goose rare in the UK?

Very. It was almost annual at Slimbridge in the mid 20th century, but as the Fennoscandian breeding population shrank the records dried up. Most birds reported now are escapes from wildfowl collections, which is why it is still a description species judged by BBRC.

Why is the Lesser White-fronted Goose linked to Slimbridge?

Peter Scott found Lesser White-fronts among the wild White-fronted Geese on the Severn at Slimbridge in 1945. That flock, and those birds, helped persuade him to found what is now the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust there the following year.

Kit that helps

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