Northwest Scotland Greylag Goose Anser anser	Species Accounts - Background - Status Summary - Latest results

Most birds moult close to the breeding areas, although large numbers of non-breeders are known to gather to moult at Loch Loyal, Sutherland, and small numbers from Coll and Tiree moult on Gunna. Other small gatherings may occur in remote upland areas (Mitchell 1999).

The main winter habitat is thought to have been saltmarsh and coastal Scirpus beds, but as little of this remains in Britain, the geese switched to feeding on arable land and improved pastures centuries ago. The birds favour cereal stubbles, oats and ryes during the autumn and grass is used throughout the winter. This has brought them into conflict with crofters who believe the birds damage their crops and cause reduced yields. Sown grass and permanent pasture are used in the spring, and moorland vegetation is particularly important in June/July during the moult period. The birds roost on estuaries, coastal sandflats and freshwater lochs and mires. Most breeding areas are extensive open waters (coastal or inland) with dense vegetation, such as heather, and have ready access to suitable grazing pasture and wetlands.

Since 1986, the population on the Uists has been monitored bi-annually, and more recently these counts have been coordinated with those in other key areas, such as Coll and Tiree. One count is carried out in late August to provide a post-breeding population total before the shooting season starts in September. A second count is carried out in early February to provide a post-shooting population total before the birds start to move off crofting land to the more inaccessible breeding areas. The difference between the two count totals provides an estimate of winter mortality. To assess reproductive success, assessments of the proportion of young in the flocks and of brood size have been made in August, primarily on Coll and Tiree since 2001 as part of the UK-breeding Greylag Goose Survey, but data also exist from other parts of the range.

WWT home | JNCC home The Goose & Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP) monitors numbers and breeding success of geese and swans in the UK during the non-breeding season. GSMP is organised by WWT on behalf of WWT and JNCC. Email: monitoring@wwt.org.uk