Barnacle Goose

Status One sight record. Late in the afternoon of 20 November 1969, Game Warden Edward Turner was on patrol along the west bank of Port Hebert harbour, Shelburne County. There he saw a flock of seven unusually tame geese standing by themselves on the marsh by the edge of the harbour. Early the following day, they allowed him to approach within 50 m and study them with binoculars. They were noticeably smaller than Canada Geese, had small bills, black breasts, and conspicuous white foreheads, a feature that ruled out the possibility that they might be Brant. After studying them as long as he cared to, he was convinced they were Barnacle Geese.

Remarks This sighting was detailed in his "Outdoors" column in the Shelburne Coast Guard by Harrison F. Lewis, who considered Mr. Turner well qualified to make this identification. Kortright (1942) states that the Barnacle Goose is less inclined to associate with other geese than is any other goose species and so readily approachable that it is known as the "fool" among geese. These characteristics were noted by Mr. Turner, lending further credence to his identification.

The Barnacle Goose is an Old World species that breeds in Greenland. Most records in North America have been dismissed as escapees from captivity, but our small group (perhaps a family) seems not to have had such an origin.