The English and scientific names of the bean goose come from its habit in the past of grazing in bean field stubbles in winter.
Anser is the Latin for "goose", and fabalis is derived from the Latin 
faba, a broad bean.

There are three subspecies, with complex variation in body size and bill size and pattern; generally, size increases from north to south and from west to east.

Taiga bean goose (Anser fabalis sensu stricto) (Latham, 1787)
A. f. fabalis (Latham, 1787).
Scandinavia east to the Urals.
Large; bill long and narrow, with broad orange band.
Anser fabalis fabalis is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

A. f. johanseni (Delacour, 1951).
West Siberian taiga.
Large; bill long and narrow, with narrow orange band.

A. f. middendorffii (Severtzov, 1873).
East Siberian taiga.
Very large; bill long and stout, with narrow orange band.
The English and scientific names of the bean goose come from its habit in the past of grazing in bean field stubbles in winter. Anser is the Latin for "goose", and fabalis is derived from the Latin 
faba, a broad bean.
There are three subspecies, with complex variation in body size and bill size and pattern; generally, size increases from north to south and from west to east. 
Taiga bean goose (Anser fabalis sensu stricto) (Latham, 1787)
A. f. fabalis (Latham, 1787). Scandinavia east to the Urals. Large; bill long and narrow, with broad orange band. Anser fabalis fabalis is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
A. f. johanseni (Delacour, 1951). West Siberian taiga. Large; bill long and narrow, with narrow orange band.
A. f. middendorffii (Severtzov, 1873). East Siberian taiga. Very large; bill long and stout, with narrow orange band.
Taiga bean goose