About Anser fabalis (Latham, 1787)
This species, Anser fabalis, has a body length ranging from 68 to 90 cm (27–35 in), a wingspan from 140 to 174 cm (55–69 in), and a body weight from 1.7–4 kg (3.7–8.8 lb). For the nominate subspecies, males have an average weight of 3.2 kg (7.1 lb), while females average 2.84 kg (6.3 lb). Its bill is black at the base and tip, with an orange band running across the middle; its legs and feet are also bright orange. Its upper wing-coverts are dark brown, matching the color seen in the white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) and the lesser white-fronted goose (A. erythropus). It differs from these two species by having narrow white fringes along its feathers. Its voice consists of loud honking. The closely related pink-footed goose (A. brachyrhynchus) has a shorter bill that is bright pink across the middle, pink feet, and paler, greyer upper wing-coverts that are nearly the same bluish-grey color as the greylag goose. Anser fabalis is very similar in size and bill structure to the tundra bean goose subspecies Anser serrirostris rossicus, and it was sometimes classified as a sixth subspecies of bean goose in the past.
