Brant Goose

Alternative name: Brent Goose

Subspecies bernicla
Photo by Clive Timmons
Portmarnock

Branta bernicla

Identification

Subspecies hrota
Photo by Glen Tepke
Scituate, Massachusetts, USA

Dark-bellied Brent (bernicla)

• Black head and neck (except for a white spot on each side of the neck)
• Sharp demarcation from the lower breast, belly, and flank which are light greyish-brown
• Back and wing coverts are darker brown
• Black wing tips
• The vent, under-tail coverts, and upper-tail coverts (only visible in flight) are white
• Black tail
• Bill, legs and feet are black.

Pale-bellied Brent (hrota)

Much paler belly almost without contrast between vent/undertail and belly. Otherwise similar to Dark-bellied.

Black Brent (nigricans and orientalis)

Subspecies nigricans, one bird among many bernicla
Photo by steenl
Anjum, Lauwersmeer, Netherlands

Much darker central belly and breast, almost without contrast between upper breast and lower breast, where the other forms are sharply demarcated.
On the other hand, this form has a white flank in contrast both up and down to darker areas, but almost as light as the undertail. The white spot on the side of the neck is often much stronger, and can be continuous at the back of the neck.

Immature

• All forms lack the white neck marking
• White edges to feathers on the wings and back produce a scaly impression

Distribution

Dark-bellied Brent (bernicla)

Breeds in Siberia except for the eastern part, and winters e.g., in Europe where it is more common than Pale-bellied Brent.

Photo by targetman
Lincolnshire, UK February 2010

Pale-bellied Brent (hrota)

Breeds in Franz Josef Land, Svalbard, Greenland and northeastern Canada, wintering in Denmark, northeast and northwest England, north Wales, Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland and the Atlantic coast of the United States from Maine to Georgia.

Black Brant (nigricans and orientalis)

Breeds in north-east Siberia to most of Canada, winters to China and Mexico; it is a rare visitor in Europe and British Isles.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

This species has four subspecies^[1], but is normally subdivided into three groups; these three groups have recently been suggested as incipient species, in other words many people expect a split to happen sooner or later. The three groups are:

• Dark Bellied Brent = subspecies bernicla.
• Black Brant = Black-bellied Brent = subspecies nigricans + orientalis.
• Pale-bellied Brent Goose = subspecies hrota.

• B. b. bernicla:

• North-central Siberia; winters coastal England and north-western Europe

• B. b. orientalis:

• North-eastern Siberia

• B. b. hrota:

• Eastern Arctic Canada, Greenland and Spitzbergen; winters eastern N America

• B. b. nigricans:

• Extreme north-eastern Siberia to northern Canada; winters to northern Mexico and China

Habitat

Coasts, tidal estuaries, inland agricultural land and low-lying wet coastal tundra for both breeding and feeding.

Behaviour

Breeding

The raised cup-shaped nest is lined with grass and down.

Diet

The diet includes vegetation, especially eel-grass.

Vocalisation

<flashmp3>Branta bernicla (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brant Goose. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brant_Goose

External Links

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