Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus

The number of autumn staging Pinkfeet has increased in the country during the last decade and  in October 2015 no less than 2845 were reported from Sweden with 1760 counted in November. In the latest autumn counts, 2017, no less than 3600 Pinkfooted Geese were counted. November totals were lower but there was also an increase in the number of Pink-footed Geese counted. The numbers counted was lower in 2018 with a peak in October of about 2500 birds. In October 2019, totals were only slightly lower than in 2017, with 3500 Pinkfeet recorded.

January numbers were appreciably lower, but during most of the last fifteen winters between 100 and 200 Pinkfooted Geese stayed in Sweden for the winter. The highest total up to now was 264 and it was recorded at the January counts in 2019.

In the early yeras of goose counting the majority of the small groups of the species were found in the flocks of the more numerous Bean Goose but when the increase started larger and larger numbers were found further north in south Sweden, especially at Lakes Kvismaren and Tysslingen. The Pinkfeet also started to appear in flocks of there own that could have several hundred individuals.

This increase in the staging numbers of Pinkfooted Geese in Sweden should be seen in the light of the establishment of a new migration route through Sweden and Finland, where a large staging area for the species has been established in the Oulu area. These birds apparently passed Sweden from wintering and staging areas in Denmark over south central Sweden, especially large numbers being seen in the provinces of Närke, Uppland and Södermanland both during autumn and spring migration. Numbers in the goose areas in southernmost Sweden was not much higher than before.