Are brant geese rare?

Are there geese in Ireland in winter?

The pale-bellied brent goose is the most common visitor to Ireland each winter. And is one of the most regularly seen goose species to be seen by birders. These winter visitors migrate from high arctic Canada each year. They occur from October to April. Though there are often occasional birds that can be found during the spring and summer.

What is the difference between a Brant and a Canada goose?

The Brant is similar in appearance to the Canada Goose, but smaller and darker. The adult has a gray belly and breast, white rump, and black neck and head with a thin white necklace and no chin-strap. Brant are almost exclusively coastal in their range and are found in shallow bays and saltwater marshes.

What is the difference between a mallard and a Canada goose?

Larger than a Mallard, smaller than a Canada Goose. Adults have a black head, neck, and breast with variable white neck markings. They have, brown wings, white undertail, and pale flanks and belly that can vary from pale brown (in eastern North America) to blackish (in the West).

Where do geese Go in winter in the UK?

The brent goose flies to the UK for the milder winter. Two populations arrive: those with dark bellies can be found around Eastern… Waders nesting in the Arctic travel to British coasts and estuaries in their thousands to spend the winter in milder conditions.

Where do brent geese live?

There are two distinct races of brent geese. Dark-bellied brent geese breed in northern Russia and spend the winter in southern and eastern England. Pale-bellied brent geese breed mostly in Canada and Greenland and spend the winter mostly in Ireland.

What is the genus and species of a goose?

Five species belong to the so-called ‘grey geese’ of the Anser genus; these are large, predominantly grey birds. The other two are the barnacle and brent goose. These birds belong to the Branta genus (from an Old Norse word meaning ‘black’ or ‘burnt’). What makes a goose a goose? All geese are large, heavy birds.

Which Goose and swan species have been seen in Ireland?

See below some of the details about our Goose and Swan species that have arrived in Ireland in recent weeks: The first Greenland White-fronted Geese of winter 2019/20 arrived on the North Slob in Wexford yesterday (01 October 2019) – four adults and a juvenile. The Greenland White-fronted Goose is the species on the BirdWatch Ireland logo.

What kind of geese live in Wexford?

Geese and Swans return to Ireland for the winter 1 Greenland White-fronted Goose. The first Greenland White-fronted Geese of winter 2019/20 arrived on the North Slob in Wexford yesterday (01 October 2019) – four adults and a juvenile. 2 Light-bellied Brent Goose. … 3 Pink-footed Goose. … 4 Greylag Geese. … 5 Whooper Swan.

Where can I see Greenland white-fronted geese in Ireland this Winter 2019/20?

The first Greenland White-fronted Geese of winter 2019/20 arrived on the North Slob in Wexford yesterday (01 October 2019) – four adults and a juvenile. The Greenland White-fronted Goose is the species on the BirdWatch Ireland logo. If you want to get a good look at this species, make sure you visit Wexford Wildfowl Reserve this winter.

What is the scientific name of brant goose?

Species Index of Geese. The Brant Goose (Branta bernicla), a goose of the genus Branta, is known in North America as Brant, Brent Goose or Black Brant. The spelling “Brant” is the original one, with “Brent” being a later folk-etymological idea that it was derived from a classical Greek waterbird name brenthos.

Where do brant geese live in the US?

Brant Geese. The head and neck are black, with a small white patch on either side of the neck. It breeds in Franz Josef Land, Svalbard, Greenland and northeastern Canada, wintering in Denmark, northeast England, Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland and the Atlantic coast of the U.S. from Maine to Georgia.

What time of year do geese fly in Ireland?

Most occur in Ireland between October and April. This population winters almost entirely in Ireland, with small numbers in parts of Britain and France. Small dark goose, with a black head, neck and breast, and dark-brown upperparts and pale underparts.

What is the difference between B and C Canada geese?

B. c. moffitti – Moffitt’s or Great Basin Canada Goose – Similar to maxima in size and color, may have white markings on forehead, intermountain birds may have dark throat stripe. B. c. parvipes – Lesser Canada Goose – reportedly intergrades with taverneri in w AK, with hutchinsii throughout tundra, with maxima and moffitti to south.

What is the difference between a Brant and a Canadian goose?

Slightly larger than a Brant, smaller than most Canada Geese. Brown overall with black neck and head, white cheek and throat (“chinstrap”), white under the tail, and blackish bill, legs, and feet. Brown coloration varies from dark to pale brown among the subspecies.

What do brent geese eat?

During the winter months eelgrass and algae are their main diet. Polar bears, arctic foxes, glaucous gulls and arctic skuas all take eggs and chicks of the brent goose in Svalbard. Brent geese nest in single pairs or in loose colonies.

Do brant geese migrate?

No other goose nests as far north as the Brant, and few migrate as far as this long-distance traveler. During this trek, Brant fly at altitudes of several thousand feet. The West Coast population breeds primarily on Melville Island and Prince Patrick Island in the western high Arctic.

How many breeding pairs of geese are there in the UK?

An escapee from ornamental collections, there are now 1,100 breeding pairs across the UK. Where do geese migrate to from the UK? Geese migrate to Britain in autumn, overwintering on our shores before leaving once more in spring. The different species migrate to different locations, including Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard.

Where do geese Go in winter?

Geese migrate to Britain in autumn, overwintering on our shores before leaving once more in spring. The different species migrate to different locations, including Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. What do geese eat?

Where can I see geese in the UK?

In autumn and winter, geese are a familiar sight in the UK’s estuaries, marshes and wetlands. Learn all about these majestic birds, including identification, migration patterns and the best places to see them in the UK.

What do brent geese do in the winter?

Our smallest goose, around the same size as a mallard, the brent geese have spent the winter feeding on eel grass and grazing in coastal fields. At the start of February, with spring approaching, they gather in their largest numbers, preparing for the long journey back to Arctic Russia.

What is the smallest goose in Britain?

Brent Geese are the smallest geese to visit Britain. One goose can travel over 135,000 miles in its lifetime between its winter habitat in the UK and its summer habitat, the Artic tundra. Young Brent geese stay with their parents for their first autumn & winter and feed & fly in family groups within the flock.