BERGH LMJ VAN DER (1980) Possible sight records of the subspecies serrirostris andjohanseni of the Bean Goose Anserfabalis. LIMOSA 53 (1): 21-23.
In January and February 1979, large numbers of Bean
Geese from eastern populations came to The Netherlands as a
result of severe cold weather. This appeared from the numerous
observations of Taiga-Bean geese-Anser Jabalis Jabalis.
These geese can be distinguished from the Tundra-Bean
geese-A. f rossicus by their large but slender size and
long, predominantly orange yellow bills.
In almost every group of A. J. Jabalis some birds with
more black than yellow bills occur, but otherwise they are
similar to other geese. Probably this concerns individual
colour variations and does not point to birds of different
geographic origin.
During observations of many thousands of Bean Geese
in the winter 1978/a few times birds were seen, which as
a group (mostly as family group) clearly differed from the other
geese by a number of distinguishing characteristics. Firstly,
14 very large Tundra Bean Geese were seen on February
1979 near Vught, province of Noord-Brabant. It seems quite
well possible that they belonged to A. f serrirostris. After the
observation of a presumably mixed family of A.. f johanseni x
A. f Jabalis on 20 February 1979 near Waspik (province of
Noord-Brabant), families of 5 Bean Geese with characteristics
of A. f johanseni were observed naer Beuningen (province of
Gelderland) on 22 Februari 1979 and near Amerongen (province
of Utrecht) on 23 February 1979.
In all cases these birds probably belonged to subspecies
whose distribution extends eastward from the areas of A. f
rossicus and A. f Jabalis. The appearence of such birds
in Western Europe can be explained by the severe cold
in Northern-, Eastern-, and Central Europe. In the future, it
is important to pay attention to Bean Geese which as a group
or family clearly differ from other such groups, especially
during severe cold.
Taiga Bean Goose Anser fabalis Tundra Bean Goose Anser serrirostris
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