Belongs to: geese

Brent goose Branta bernicla

Small very dark goose of estuarine habitat, once endangered but increasing as a result of conservation action

Habitat: estuaries and grassland near to estuaries

Common winter visitor to UK: dark-bellied race comes to south-east England and continent, pale-bellied to Ireland

Dark-bellied has black face with white flash on black neck; white rear end with belly as dark as breast

Walks, grazes on estuary mud and fields; flies frequently and lands on water and ground

On arrival feeds on eel-grass beds on the mud; later moves to cereal fields and grassland near the estuary

Breed on the arctic tundra, dark-bellied in northern Russia, pale-bellied in Canada and Greenland

Nest is a lined scrape near water, mostly near sea; 1 brood June – July; 3-5 white/yellow eggs

Leave their breeding grounds by mid-September, arriving in Essex in large flocks in early October