Pale-bellied brent geese in the Netherlands

This is a video of a pale-bellied brent goose on the Dutch coast, with a “normal” brent goose, a turnstone, and a few oystercatchers. The video is from 23 December 2009, Ter Heijde (Westland local authority).

From the Dutch ornithologists of SOVON:

Another pale-bellied brent geese influx on its way?

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

During the recent relatively severe winters, strikingly many pale-bellied brent geese were observed in our country. In total over 500. The first signs of a new influx are already there, as evidenced by the observation of a ringed pale-bellied brent goose on the beach of Westland (Zuid-Holland province); that bird is by now almost 21 years old.

Pale-bellied brent geese are no longer considered to be a subspecies of the more well known brent goose; they are considered to be a real species in their own right.

The Westland ringed bird had been seen before in the Netherlands last winter, and in the 1990s.

Pale-bellied and ‘normal’ brent goose photos are here.

Another ex-brent goose subspecies, now considered to be a species, the black brant goose, is also in the Netherlands now.