What they like

Peace, space and short grass. Wet grasslands, river forelands, polders, marshy patches. By day feeding on land, at night sleeping safely on open water. Help them out: make a little marshy corner, don’t trim ditch edges too neatly, and leave a few grass patches on yards and in parks a bit longer and wetter over winter.

Ecological importance

Barnacle geese are the grazers of winter. They turn grass into droppings: food for soil life and thereby for insects. And they’re tasty prey for foxes and large raptors; that keeps the food chain active. Less disturbance = more time to feed, less energy lost.

When in the Netherlands

Mainly October to March. In spring they head back up to the high north.

Status

Winter visitor. Common and numerous, but dependent on quiet, wet open areas. Disturbance and the loss of marshy spots make life unnecessarily hard for them.