THE TAIGA BEAN GOOSE IN SWEDEN
The Taiga Bean Goose Anser fabalis fabalis is distributed in the taiga region from Scandinavia far into Siberia in Russia. During the autumn the Taiga Bean Geese from this vast area migrates into western Europe, a very high proportion staging in south Sweden during the autumn, especially in October ( follow the link: bean goose in south Sweden). During the winter the major part of the Taiga Bean Geese are found in south Sweden, Poland, Germany, Denmark and formerly also the Netherlands. Smaller numbers are still to be found in Great Britain during winter.
The situation for the Taiga Bean Geese during the non-breeding season has been followed for a number of years in the International Goose counts, which started in Sweden in the season 1977/78 ( Goose counts in Sweden). From the counts during the late autumn it is clear that the total population of Taiga Bean Geese have decreased and the present total estimate is in the order of 70000 -90000 individuals.
The breeding population of Taiga Bean Geese in northern Sweden is relatively small, but good censuses are lacking. During spring, the majority of the geese from southern Sweden pass over the Baltic to southern Finland and further east, but a small number of geese migrate north along the Bothnian coast reaching staging areas at the coast from Umeå in the south to Luleå in the north. The total number using this coastal route is estimated to be between 3000 and 4000 individuals. In addition to these birds aproximately 1500 geese are supposed to migrate directly to the breeding areas in the southern part of Lapland from wintering grounds on Jutland in Denmark and Great Britain. The idea of this inland route is supported by readings of neckbands from marking on a moulting place in southern Lapland during the early 1980s. Using population models these spring estimates leads to a breeding population of abou 1000 pairs, of which some are though to migratge to Norway, leaving perhaps 850 pairs as the Swqedish population.
In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the Taiga Bean Geese of northern Sweden especially in relation to the heated debate on the possible effects of a newly built railroad "Botniabanan" through the Ume river delta. This interest has lead to new research on the Taiga Bean Goose in addition to the studies relating directly to the possible impact of the railroad on the goose populations. Some of these studies are reported briefly on this homepage:
Follow the links below to the different items included in the studies:
Autumn and winter counts in south Sweden
Moulting Taiga Bean Geese in northern Sweden
Satellite-tracking of Taiga Bean Geese
Staging areas for Taiga Bean Geese in northern Sweden (to be added later)
Page Last updated 2011-02-25