Saving wetlands for wildlife & people

Icelandic-breeding Goose Census

Species/Populations
Greenland/Iceland Pink-footed Goose
Iceland Greylag Goose

History
Census began in 1960 in the UK. Coordinated at international scale since 1998 (Ireland) and 2001 (other countries).

Until winter 2005, coordinated counts were undertaken at the majority of sites in October and November. With the increasingly late arrival of Greylag Geese to the UK, a third coordinated count was introduced in 2005 to determine whether December was a better month to count this species. After three winters, an appraisal of the count data indicated that November and December were the best months in which to count Greylag Geese

Although Pink-footed Geese have also been arriving later, their migration has not advanced sufficiently for December to be a suitable month in which to count this species. Although numbers of Pinkfeet peak increasingly in November, October still provides the peak count in around half of all years.

Aims
To estimate population size and identify important wintering sites.

Coverage
International (UK, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Faroe Islands). Around 120-150 sites are covered each year. Those in the UK are mainly in Scotland, northern England and Norfolk.

Frequency
Annual.
Coordinated counts are carried out each year on pre-determined dates in October, November and December. A preliminary count in September is also made at some sites.

Methods
Primarily counts of roosting birds. These are ideally conducted at dawn as birds leave the roost, but dusk roost counts are made at some sites. Exceptionally, daytime counts of feeding birds are made in areas where roost sites are poorly known or inaccessible, or too few counters exist in order to provide coordinated coverage of roost sites.

Results
Please view the latest assessments of Greenland/Iceland Pink-footed Goose and Iceland Greylag Goose, or download the annual IGC reports.

Getting involved
The coordinated count dates for the next survey period (winter 2008) are 4/5 October, 1/2 November and 6/7 December 2008.

Counters at sites supporting roosting Pink-footed Geese should count on the October and November coordinated dates, whilst counters at sites with Greylag Geese should focus on November and December. Counts from all three months are welcome from sites holding both species. However, if this is not possible, please liaise with your Local Organiser or the national organiser, Carl Mitchell, regarding the best alternative approach.

If you feel you can help to address any of these gaps in coverage in any way, for example by counting the site yourself, suggesting an alternative contact who may be able to help, or bringing us up to date on the numbers of geese present in recent winters, please contact the  Waterbird Monitoring Unit.

Resources
Count forms
CUDI
Data requests
Field ageing guide

Partner Organisations
BirdWatch Ireland
Faroese Ornithological Society
Icelandic Institute of Natural History
Joint Nature Conservation Committee
National Parks and Wildlife Service (Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Eire) 
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research

This survey also receives the support of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement





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