Specie's Page                                               Water Fowl - Barnacle Geese

Barnacle Goose:   UK Status: Resident.

Habitat: This goose likes lakes, pools, rivers and the sea when not nesting. But lives mainly away from water when nesting, in the UK it tends to be nearer water when breeding.

Breeding: Barnacle Geese build their nest well away from water where they feed, and choose awkward to access places, such as cliffs and rugged rocky areas to thwart predators. Nests are made of dead foliage and mud, lined with downy breast feathers. Females lay three to five whitish eggs in each clutch.

Comment: Usually there are up to about fifteen hundred breeding pairs in the UK, mainly on the south, and east coasts. Numbers rise to about fifty eight thousand, as overwintering birds arrive from Greenland and Russia. They are fairly common in England during the summer in their chosen breeding grounds. These geese can be found throughout the British Isles during winter, and are mainly coastal.