
If you see a wild grey goose in the UK outside the winter months, it will almost certainly be the greylag goose (Anser anser). The only other ‘wild’ goose seen throughout the year, and the only one apart from the greylag to breed in Britain, is the Canada goose, an introduced species. The greylag is a big bird with broad wings, and looks heavy in flight. From a distance, the birds appear a uniform grey-brown but a closer view reveals more subtle tones of brown and grey. The birds also have barring on back, breast and neck. The underside of the tail is white. Birds from different parts of their range show slight variations in coloration. Siberian birds have a slightly lighter heads and paler fringes to the dark plumage on their backs. They also have bills which are pinker in color than the orange bills of the European birds. Both subspecies, however, have dull pink feet and legs. Greylags are the ancestors of most domesticated geese, although the Chinese swan goose is descended from the wild swan goose found in eastern Asia.