Greylag Goose

The greylag goose is a large goose and the type species of its genus. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage, an orange beak and pink legs, a rotund, bulky body, a thick, long neck and a large head and bill. It is the ancestor of most breeds of domestic goose, domesticated at least as early as about 1360 BCE (Wikipedia, general species account).

Birds from the north of its range often migrate south to winter in warmer places, though many populations are resident, and Asian birds migrate to Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, northern India, Bangladesh and eastward to China. Geese travel to northerly breeding grounds in spring, nesting on moorland, in marshes, around lakes and on coastal islands. They normally mate for life and nest on the ground among vegetation, laying four to six creamy-white eggs.