Fig. 1. Pink-footed Goose – Dennis, MA – 19 January 1999 by J. R. Trimble
26 records
| MARC number | Decision | Species | # | Location | Arrival | Departure | Observers | Notes | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-024 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Dennis Pines Golf Course, Barnstable Co. | 1/16/99 | 2/20/99 | Randy Fisher*, ph. D. Crockett, †S. Smolen-Morton, ph. †Jeremiah Trimble | needs prior reviewe to be captured | 15 |
| 2009-010 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Salt Pond, Falmouth, Barnstable Co. | 1/12/09 | 1/15/09 | 14 | ||
| 2010-042 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Sudbury/Concord, Middlesex Co. | 11/17/10 | 12/26/10 | George Gove*, Jeremiah Trimble (ph), Erik Nielsen (ph), J. P. Smith (ph) | 16 | |
| 2011-045 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Turner's Falls, Franklin Co. | 10/26/11 | 10/28/11 | J.P. Smith* (ph), C.&D. Fisher (ph) | 16 | |
| 2011-048 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Bear Creek Sanctuary, Saugus, Essex Co. | 12/11/11 | 12/14/11 | P. Peterson, Ryan Schain (ph), Marshall Iliff, et al. | 17 | |
| 2011-049 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Muschopauge Pond, Rutland, Worcester Co. | 12/17/11 | 12/18/11 | Mark Lynch, Kevin Bourinot* | 17 | |
| 2012-083 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Upper Artichoke Reservoir, Essex Co. | 10/20/12 | 10/20/12 | George Gove (ph) | 17 | |
| 2014-004 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Pilgrim Rd., Hatfield/Whately, Hampshire Co. | 3/23/14 | 3/30/14 | ph. S. Motyl, Larry Therrien* | 19 | |
| 2015-010 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Turner's Falls Power Canal, Gill, Franklin Co. | 11/25/15 | 11/25/15 | ph. James P. Smith* | 20 | |
| 2016-001 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Longmeadow area (various locations near Longmeadow along Connecticut River), Hampden Co. | 1/16/16 | 2/23/16 | ph. S. Motyl, A. Robblee* | 20 | |
| 2016-022 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | West Newbury, Newburyport, and Ipswich, Essex Co. | 11/6/16 | 3/10/17 | Robert Gervais* | 21 | |
| 2016-023 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Stockbridge Rd., Hadley, UMass Amherst campus pond, Amherst, Hampshire Co. | 12/6/16 | 12/10/17 | Larry Therrien* (ph) | 21 | |
| 2016-024 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Cambridge Reservoir and Concord Fields, Concord, Middlesex Co. | 12/4/17 | 12/15/17 | Cliff Cook*, Jason Forbes (ph) | 21 | |
| 2017-097 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co. | 10/30/17 | 10/30/17 | James Smith* (ph) | 22 | |
| 2017-098 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Granville Road, Westfield, Hampden Co. | 11/1/17 | 11/2/17 | Griffin Richards* (ph) | 22 | |
| 2017-099 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Turner's Falls Rod and Gun, Franklin Co. | 11/5/17 | 11/5/17 | Josh Layfield* (ph) | 22 | |
| 2018-010 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Berkley Bridge (Elm Street), Berkley; 392 Market Street, Swansea; Barney Avenue Fields, Rehoboth, Bristol Co. | 1/28/18 | 2/26/18 | Glenn d'Entremont*; Glen Chretien (ph), Liam Waters (ph), Jim Sweeney (ph) | 22 | |
| 2018-069 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Argilla-Northgate Fields, Ipwsiwch, Essex Co. | 11/8/18 | 11/15/18 | Phil Brown* (ph) | 23 | |
| 2019-086 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Stephen's Field, Plymouth, Plymouth Co. | 12/1/19 | 12/2/19 | John Galluzzo* (ph) | 24 | |
| 2019-120 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Longmeadow Flats, Longmeadow, Hampden Co. | 11/16/19 | 11/23/19 | Ted Gilliland* (ph) | 24 | |
| 2019-128 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Somerset Reservoir & Quirck Mello Conservation Area, Somerset, Bristol Co. | 12/6/19 | 1/5/20 | Matthew Eckerson* (ph) | 24 | |
| 2020-028 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Rte. 105/Vaughan Hill Rd. fields, Rochester, Plymouth Co. | 2/23/20 | 3/20/20 | Brian Vigorito* (ph), Myer Bornstein* | 24 | |
| 2020-032 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | UMass Dartmouth Campus, North Dartmouth, Bristol Co. | 3/28/20 | 3/28/20 | Zach Moser*, Dan Zimberlin (ph) | 24 | |
| 2020-106 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Duck Creek Marsh, Wellfleet & Eldredge Park & Boland Pond, Orleans, Barnstable Co. | 11/26/20 | 12/27/20 | Peggy Sagan* (ph), Mark Faherty (ph) | 25 | |
| 2021-025 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | 362 Horseneck Rd, South Dartmouth, Bristol Co. | 1/26/21 | 4/25/21 | Arthur Rainville* (ph), Beverly King*, Carlo Molander* (ph), Sue Walas* | 25 | |
| 2021-028 | A | Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Forte Park, Newton, Middlesex Co. | 3/5/21 | 3/20/21 | Gary Oines* (ph), Marshall Iliff (ph) | 25 |
Pink-footed Goose breeds in e. Greenland, Iceland, and Spitsbergen and winters in nw. Europe. The population is increasing and vagrants in the Northeast are occurring with increased frequency.
The first two Massachusetts records for Pink-footed Goose both hailed from Cape Cod during January. Both birds have been found among Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) flocks and have been widely seen and well-photographed. The 1999 bird was initially considered “origin uncertain”, but is currently being rereviewed.
STATUS IN THE EAST: The population of this species is growing rapidly in Iceland and Greenland. The first records from North America were from Newfoundland (10 May-3 Jun 1980; AB 34:755) and Quebec (6-21 Oct 1988). Since that time, there have been a number of additional records from Newfoundland (including a small flight in spring 1995), Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Quebec. Recent records from Rhode Island (two, Jan-Feb 2007, Newport) and Long Island (two, Nov 2007-Feb 2008) were thought to possibly pertain to the same wandering individuals. Some thought that the Massachusetts record and one in New York in 2009 may have pertained to the same individuals wandering separately, but we consider it unlikely given that goose pairs mate for life and that the rapid increase in eastern records supports the notion that multiple individuals might occur in the East in a given year. Some analyses were done of bill patterns of Pink-footed Geese on the East Coast in 2012-2013, and similar analyses might shed light on past and future records.
IDENTIFICATION NOTES: With good views, this species is distinctive with its stubby dark bill with a pinkish saddle, pink legs, and grayish body plumage. One Massachusetts record was briefly considered to pertain to Tundra Bean-Goose (Anser fabalis) or Taiga Bean-Goose (Anser serrirostris), but good views of the bill structure and leg color eliminated that possibility (bean-geese have orange legs vs. pink on Pink-footed). Tundra Bean-Goose has occurred in Nebraska and Quebec and should be considered a possible but extremely unlikely vagrant to Massachusetts.
