Cackling Goose

Branta hutchinsii

Order ANSERIFORMES - Family ANATIDAE - Subfamily Anserinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The newly recognized Cackling Goose is a smaller version of the Canada Goose. Formerly considered the smallest subspecies of one variable species, recent work on genetic differences found the four smallest forms to be very different. These four races are now recognized as a full species: the Cackling Goose. It breeds farther northward and westward than does the Canada Goose.

Cool Facts

• The Cackling Goose was long considered just a small race of the Canada Goose. The smallest four of the eleven recognized races were recently determined to be distinct enough to be their own species. Cackling Goose includes the races known as Taverner's, Richardson's, Aleutian, and Cackling geese. Confusingly, the "Lesser Canada Goose" is still a race of the Canada Goose.
• Although most Cackling Geese nest along ponds and streams in the tundra, the Aleutian form nests on south-facing turf slopes above rocky, cliff-bound shorelines. The Richardson's form can nest in colonies of several hundred pairs on cliffs and steep rock slopes.

• The smallest form of the Cackling Goose is only a quarter the size of the "Giant Canada Goose" subspecies.

Description

• Size: 55-75 cm (22-30 in)
• Weight: 950-3000 g (33.54-105.9 ounces)

• Medium-sized to small goose.
• Black head.
• Bill small and triangular.
• Long, black neck.
• White chinstrap.
• Light tan to brown breast feathers.
• Brownish back.
• White undertail.

• Rump white.
• Tail black.
• Legs black.
• Eyes black.
• Bill black.
• White cheek patches may or may not be separated by black stripe on chin.
• Black neck sometimes separated from brown chest by white collar.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult.

Similar Species

• Canada Goose nearly identical, but larger, and with proportionately larger bill.
• The blue form of the Snow Goose has an all-white head.
• Brant has a dark chest and white limited to the neck, not the cheek.
• The rare Barnacle Goose has an entirely white face, a black breast, and a gray and black barred back.
• Canada Goose X domestic goose hybrids have a wide variety of different markings, including extended white on head, red on bill, and red legs.

Sound

Noisy. Call a loud honking or a high-pitched, squeaking cackle.

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from western Alaska eastward across northern Canada to Baffin Island, southward to central Yukon.

Winter Range

Winters from British Columbia southward to California, eastward to northern Mexico and western Louisiana.

Habitat

Breeds in coastal marshes, along tundra ponds and streams, and steep turf slopes above rocky shores.

Food

Entirely herbivorous. Eats variety of plant species and parts, especially grasses, sedges, grain, and berries.

Behavior

Foraging

Grazes on grass. Tips up to reach aquatic vegetation. Feeds in flocks in fields.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest a large open cup, made of dry grasses, lichens, and mosses, lined with down and some body feathers. Usually placed on slightly elevated sites near water. Some cliff nesting.

Egg Description

Creamy white.

Clutch Size

2-8 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Covered with down and eyes open. Leaves nest within 24 hours of hatching with the ability to swim and feed.

Conservation Status

Aleutian Cackling Goose was protected under the original Endangered Species Act in 1973, but was removed from the list in 2001. Other forms increasing, but still below long-term averages.

Other Names

Bernache de Hutchins (French)
Canada Goose (in part) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

1. Banks, R. C., et al. 2004. Forty-fifth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 121: 985-995.
2. Mowbray, T. B., C. R. Ely, J. S. Sedinger, and R. E. Trost. 2002. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). In The Birds of North America, No.682 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.