The upper wing-coverts are of a somewhat similar pale bluish-grey as in the greylag goose, and the flight feathers blackish-grey.

Populations have risen spectacularly over the last 50 years, due largely to increased protection from shooting on the wintering grounds.

Within Great Britain, the most important wintering areas are in Norfolk (147,000 in 2004), Lancashire (44,000 in 2004), and Aberdeenshire (primarily on autumn and spring passage).

[5][6][7][8] A 2023 paper documented the rapid formation of a new breeding population of pink-footed geese on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in Russia.

[9][10][11] Nesting is often on cliffs close to glaciers to provide protection from mammalian predators (mainly Arctic fox), also on islets in lakes.

[13] The pink-footed goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.