This interbreeding appears to have happened at least 3.5 million years ago, with the lineage of the red-breasted goose following its own evolutionary path since then.

[3] Branta is a Latinised form of Old Norse Brandgás, "burnt (black) goose and ruficollis is from the Latin rufus "red" and collis "necked".

[8] A large part of the population traditionally wintered in Kirov Bay in the Caspian Sea, but in the 1960s the area became unsuitable for the geese due to the agricultural change.

However, catastrophic population decline was avoided because they were able to alter their migration strategy and now winter in suitable habitats in Bulgaria and the Dobrogea region of Eastern Romania.

[9] Late Pleistocene remains of the species have been found in Bulgaria,[10] and it is featured on ancient Egyptian paintings, including the famous Meidum Geese.

[14] A typical red-breasted goose colony is around 4 pairs depending on nest location, food abundance, and bird of prey density.

[14] The main predator for red-breasted geese eggs and goslings is the Taimyr Gull which have access to nests located on river islands.

[7] Since owl and buzzard populations fluctuate every few years, depending on lemming abundance, the only consistent protection from predators are river islands and the peregrine falcon.

The species' winter distribution has already changed significantly since the 1960s when much of the population occurred along the western coast of the Caspian Sea, in Iran, and in Iraq.

[16] In 2011, Ornithologists from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB/BirdLife in Bulgaria) and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust enacted a project that would lead to a greater understanding of the red-breasted geese's migration patterns.

In February 2013, the Bulgarian court had overturned a decision which prohibited an energy wind project from continuing their work in an important winter site for the threatened red-breasted geese.