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Canadian goose

Canada goose
Kanadagans Branta canadensis.jpg
Giant Canada goose (Branta canadensis maxima) in Edmonton, Alberta
Call of Canada Geese Brownsea Island, Dorset, March 1966
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Anserinae
Tribe: Anserini
Genus: Branta
Species: B. canadensis
Binomial name
Branta canadensis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
  • B. c. occidentalisDusky Canada goose, (Baird, 1858)
  • B. c. fulvaVancouver Canada goose, (Delacour, 1951)
  • B. c. parvipesLesser Canada goose, (Cassin, 1852)
  • B. c. moffittiMoffitt's Canada goose, (Aldrich, 1946)
  • B. c. maximaGiant Canada goose, (Delacour, 1951)
  • B. c. interiorInterior Canada goose, (Todd, 1938)
  • B. c. canadensisAtlantic Canada goose, (Linnaeus, 1758)
Branta canadensis map.png
Canada goose distribution:     Summer range (native)     Year-round range (native)     Wintering range (native)     Summer range (introduced)     Year-round range (introduced)     Wintering range (introduced)     Summer range (cackling goose)

The Canada goose (Branta canadensis) is a large wild goose species with a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brown body. Native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, its migration occasionally reaches northern Europe. It has been introduced to the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands. Like most geese, the Canada goose is primarily herbivorous and normally migratory; it tends to be found on or close to fresh water.

Extremely successful at living in human-altered areas, Canada geese have proven able to establish breeding colonies in urban and cultivated areas, which provide food and few natural predators, and are well known as a common park species. Their success has led to them often being considered a pest species because of their depredation of crops and issues with their noise, droppings, aggressive territorial behavior, and habit of begging for food, especially in their introduced range. Canada geese are also among the most commonly hunted waterfowl in North America.

The Canada goose was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work Systema Naturae. It belongs to the Branta genus of geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey species of the Anser genus.

Branta is a Latinised form of Old Norse Brandgás, "burnt (black) goose" and the specific epithet canadensis is a New Latin word meaning "from Canada". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first citation for the 'Canada goose' dates back to 1772. The Canada goose is also colloquially referred to as the "Canadian goose".


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