The barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) is a species of goose that belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with extensive black in the plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species. Despite its superficial similarity to the brant goose, genetic analysis has shown its closest relative is the cackling goose.

Taxonomy and naming

The barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. Branta is a Latinised form of Old Norse Brandgás, "burnt [black] goose" and the specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek leukos "white", and opsis "faced".

In the mediaeval period, the barnacle goose and the similar brant goose were not distinguished, and were formerly believed to spawn from the goose barnacle. This gave rise to the English name of the barnacle goose and the scientific name of the brant. It is sometimes claimed that the word comes from a Celtic word for "limpet", but the sense-history seems to go in the opposite direction. Since the 1960s, two new breeding populations have established themselves, both located along migration routes of two of the original populations. The five populations are:

  • Breeding in eastern Greenland, wintering on the Hebrides of western Scotland and in western Ireland. Population increased from about 7,000 individuals in the 1960s to 44,000 in 2011.
  • A recently established population, derived from the Greenland population, has bred more-or-less regularly in Iceland since 1964. The population has rapidly increased in the last few decades, with more than 4000 breeding pairs in 2024. They winter in the same area as Greenland population.
  • Breeding on Svalbard, Norway, and wintering almost entirely in Solway Firth on the England/Scotland border, with small numbers elsewhere in the region, particularly around Budle Bay in Northumberland. This population increased from a few hundred individuals in the 1940s to about 34,000 in 2004, and 40,000 by the start of the 2020s.
  • Breeding on Novaya Zemlya, Dolgy Island, Kanin Peninsula, Yugorsky Peninsula and the Barents Sea coastline in the Russian Arctic, wintering in the Wadden Sea area in southwest Denmark, northwest Germany and the Netherlands. Increased from about 70,000 individuals in 1980 to 1.2 million individuals in 2015.
  • A recent population, derived from the Russian population along with escaped captive birds, has become established since 1971; breeding on islands in the Baltic Sea, and on islands and coasts of the southern North Sea (Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium). Winters in or near breeding range or moves to the Wadden Sea. Some exchange with Russian population continues. Rapidly increasing; the Danish, Dutch and Swedish populations each contain several thousand breeding pairs, and the Belgian, Estonian, Finnish and German populations each contain several hundred breeding pairs.

The species has been recorded as a vagrant in eastern Canada, the Northeastern United States and India; care must be taken to distinguish these wild birds from escaped individuals, as barnacle geese are popular waterfowl with collectors.

Description

The barnacle goose is a medium-sized goose, long, with a wingspan of and a weight of , with black legs and a small, stubby black bill. Due to these hardships only 50% of the chicks survive the first month.

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File:Branta leucopsis EM1B9676 (34375189060).jpg|Brooding in Sweden

File:Branta leucopsis EM1A2624 (27349357341).jpg|Pair with goslings in Sweden

File:Branta Leucopsis Juvenile.jpg|Half-grown gosling

File:Barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) in flight Marken.jpg|In flight, Netherlands

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Conservation

The barnacle goose is common and widespread, and its population and breeding range have increased in recent decades.

Based on these legends—indeed, the legends may have been invented for this purpose The mythical barnacle tree, believed in the Middle Ages to have barnacles that opened to reveal geese, may have a similar origin to the other legends already mentioned.

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File:Barnacle Geese Fac simile of an Engraving on Wood from the Cosmographie Universelle of Munster folio Basle 1552.png|Goose barnacles turning into barnacle geese in Sebastian Münster's 1552 Cosmographia

File:Vitkindad gås (Branta leucopsis) - Ystad-2017.jpg|Autumn migration in Sweden

File:A flock of barnacle geese in Helsinki, Finland.jpg|A flock feeding at Helsinki, Finland

File:Barnacle Goose (of captive origin), New Buffalo, MI, 24 March 2013 (8641910210).jpg|Captive barnacle goose in a zoo compared to a Canada goose

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References

  • RSPB Birds by Name: Barnacle Goose