Specie's Page                                               Water Fowl - Red-breasted Goose

Red-breasted Goose:

UK Status: Non Resident, but is to be found in a few of the UK zoo's, wildlife parks and bird sanctuaries.

Habitat: This bird prefers large inland lakes.

Breeding: These birds choose to build their nest in close proximity to birds of prey, rarely are they attacked by these predators, but it happens occasionally. They are quiet timid birds and the birds of prey afford them some protection. This goose often nests in quite large colonies, their nests are cryptically built. For further protection they usually nest on islands in lakes and rivers. Females lay from about five to seven eggs which vary in colour, like domestic chicken eggs they can be pure white, and range through to brown.

Comment: This bird breeds mainly in Siberia on the Taymyr Peninsula, and to a lesser extent on the Gydal and Yamal Peninsula's. The majority of these geese used to overwinter along the shores of the Black Sea, in Bulgaria Romania and Ukraine, Greece and Azerbaijan. Due to a loss of their food supply they now mainly overwinter in Ukraine, Greece and Azerbaijan, with no drastic reduction in their numbers. A few birds also annually overwinter in Britain.