The pink-footed goose is a goose which breeds in eastern Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, and recently Novaya Zemlya. It is migratory, wintering in northwest Europe, especially Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and western Denmark. The name is often abbreviated in colloquial usage to "pinkfoot". Anser is the Latin for "goose", and brachyrhynchus comes from the ancient Greek brachus "short" and rhunchos "bill".
Pink-footed goose
Part of a feeding flock in winter
Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate, typically by flying. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, and is driven primarily by the availability of food. It occurs mainly in the Northern Hemisphere.
A flock of barnacle geese during autumn migration
Minoan fresco of swallows in springtime at Akrotiri, c. 1500 BC
The Rostocker Pfeilstorch, found in 1822, demonstrated that birds migrated rather than hibernating or changing form in winter.
Flocks of birds assembling before migration southwards (probably common starling)