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Adult barnacle goose in flight

Barnacle goose

Barnacle geese migrate to Britain and Ireland in the winter, to escape the harsher climates of Greenland and Svalbard Island. The sudden appearance of the adult geese, with no prior sign of nesting or goslings, gave rise in folklore to the story that barnacle geese either grew on trees or developed from the goose barnacles found on driftwood.

Scientific name: Branta leucopsis

Rank: Species

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Barnacle goose taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Barnacle goose can be found in a number of locations including: Arctic, Europe, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales, Ynys-hir nature reserve. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Barnacle goose distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species. Despite its superficial similarity to the Brent Goose, genetic analysis has shown it is an eastern derivative of the Cackling Goose lineage.

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Classification

  1. Life
  2. Animals
  3. Vertebrates
  4. Birds
  5. Anseriformes
  6. Ducks, geese and swans
  7. Black geese
  8. Barnacle goose

BBC News about Barnacle goose

Video collections

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