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Barnacle Goose

ID Info
Silhouette GeeseGeese
Barnacle GooseBranta leucopsis
  • ORDER: Anseriformes
  • FAMILY: Anatidae

Basic Description

The Barnacle Goose stands out in a crowd, combining black, white, and silver to create a unique, attractive look. This small, stub-billed goose numbered only 20,000 individuals in the 1950s, but now huge, noisy flocks feed voraciously in pastures and meadows in northern Europe during migration and the winter. Some Barnacle Geese migrate to Arctic regions—Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, and northwestern Russia—to breed, while others have taken up permanent residence in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

More ID Info
image of range map for Barnacle Goose
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
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Other Names

  • Barnacla Cariblanca (Spanish)
  • Bernache nonnette (French)
  • Cool Facts