| Cackling Goose | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Family: | Anatidae |
| Genus: | Branta |
| Species: | Branta hutchinsii |
The Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) is a bird in the family Anatidae. It resembles a Canada Goose in appearance, but is much smaller.
Taxonomy[]
The Cackling Goose was once considered a subspecies of the Canada Goose, but the two species were split in 2005.
The Cackling Goose has four or five subspecies:
- Richardson's cackling goose (B. h. hutchinsii), found in central and western Canada, has a pale breast and a thin white collar;
- Small cackling goose (B. h. minima), found in western Alaska, is the smallest subspecies, with a rather dark breast and either a very thin neck ring or none at all;
- Aleutian cackling goose (B. h. leucopareia), an endangered subspecies from the Aleutian Islands, slightly larger than minima, with a pale breast and a thick neck ring;[1]
- †Bering cackling goose (B. h. asiatica), a population that lived on the Komandorski and Kuril Islands, becoming extinct in the 1920s. It was not distinct from leucopareia and its status as a subspecies is debated;[2]
- Taverner's cackling goose (B. h. taverneri), is the largest subspecies, generally pale and with no neck ring.[3]
Description[]
| Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Length: | 24.8–25.6 in (63–65 cm) |
| Weight: | 49.3–84.0 oz (1,400–2,380 g) |
| Wingspan: | 42.5–43.7 in (108–111 cm) |
Although it is similar to the Canada Goose in colouration, the Cackling Goose is visibly smaller and has a proportionately shorter and stubbier bill. The male is larger than the female, but the two sexes are otherwise identical, with a long, black neck, white chinstraps, light grey or brown breast, abdomen and flanks, dark brown wings and back, a blackish rump and a blackish, white-tipped tail. The bill and legs are black. Some subspecies also have a white collar separating the neck from the chest. The largest subspecies may be close in size with Branta canadensis parvipes, the smallest Canada Goose subspecies.
Voice[]
The most common call is a high-pitched yelping given in flight. In the larger subspecies, this call may resemble the honking of the Canada Goose.
Behaviour[]
Like most geese, these birds are gregarious, territorial during the breeding season, and migratory. Within flocks, pairs and family groups are dominant over single geese.
Feeding[]
The Cackling Goose is mostly herbivorous, feeding on grass, sedges, berries, roots, cereals and aquatic plants. The geese usually forage on the ground in small groups.
Breeding[]
Cackling Geese are monogamous and pair for life. To strengthen their pair bond, the male and the female engage in a display in which they face each other with their necks stretched out and their wings spread, calling in unison. Though these waterfowl usually nest in colonies, each pair is fiercely territorial. The nest is built by the female, who scrapes a depression in the ground and fills it with twigs and plant material and lines it with her own down feathers. She then lays 2-8 creamy white eggs, which she incubates for 25-28 days while the male stands guard. The goslings, nidifugous, are covered in down, brown above and yellowish below. They are cared for by both parents, with whom they stay for about a year. [4]
Migration[]
Cackling Geese are long-distance migrants, following relatively direct, flight paths from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds. Autumn migration begins in late August, while spring migration begins around late January. The geese may stop along their way to feed and rest, especially during the spring migration. Cackling Geese migrate in flocks of variable size and usually fly in a V formation. In winter, Cackling Geese subspecies often flock together and also mix with Canada Geese.
Distribution and habitat[]
The Cackling Goose breeds in tundra habitats in the arctic and subarctic areas of Canada and Alaska, and also in eastern Siberia. It winters in the Pacific Northwest, California and the gulf coast of Texas. Both during the breeding season and during winter, they are found near water, including lakes, rivers, marshes and ponds. During migration, they may occur in fields and parks. [5]
References[]
- ↑ National Geographic Society's "Field Guide to the Birds of North America" 2nd Edition, page 66
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_cackling_goose
- ↑ https://ebird.org/species/cacgoo1
- ↑ https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cackling_Goose/lifehistory
- ↑ https://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/cackling_goose