Canada Goose
Branta canadensis
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Distribution Britain 1,196 (+75.6%) Ireland 19 (+217%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 46,700 Ireland 650 adults European status: 40,000 (76% in Britain and Ireland =1) British population trend: increasing by 2.4% p.a. and slowing How likely are you to record it? 620 squares (13.8%) Ranked 57 [93=] |
This is an introduced species from North America first brought over sometime earlier than 1678 when they were recorded in St James's Park, London. For about 250 years few were present outside the country seats where gentleman chose to have ornamental wildfowl collections. Then they started to become more common as escapes and the runaway increase began. Now most of England is colonised and there are areas in the other countries where they are well established. In Ireland, where the annual increase rate may be about 3%, most of the 500 adult birds are on the Woodford River (Cavan/Fermanagh). The English population was increasing at a calculated rate of 9.8% before 1985/86 but, more recently it has
The following Bird On! sketch is available:
Canada Goose
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead