The Tundra Bean Goose breeds in northern Siberia and winters in Europe. The race recorded in the UK in winter is rossicus.
UK wintering birds are darker and browner than other gray geese, with orange legs and a darker head and neck.
Eastern tundra bean geese wintering in East Asia can change the habitats they use between day and night. Tracking of the eastern subspecies migrating to China and South Korea found a tendency to use cropland more by day and wetlands more at night in winter. Within this subspecies, migration routes and winter habitat use differed among groups summering in different parts of the Arctic.
A paper published in 2022 compared three groups using data from 26 tracked adults. For geese migrating from the central Russian Arctic to China, cropland accounted for about 62% of their main daytime activity areas in winter and 19% at night. Wetlands accounted for about 26% by day and 76% at night. In contrast, for birds migrating from the Anadyr region to China, wetlands already accounted for about 62% by day and reached about 92% at night. Even among birds wintering in China, some groups made greater use of cropland while others used wetlands more extensively.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Kejonuma in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, is an important roost for the eastern subspecies wintering in Japan. This lake does not freeze completely even in midwinter and is surrounded by rice fields. It is a special protection area within a national wildlife protection area and was designated a Ramsar wetland in October 2008. The city and nongovernmental organisations work with residents to restore and manage the wetland and surrounding traditional woodland landscape and control invasive species.