Geese

 

 

 

Taiga Bean Goose Gé Síolghé Taiga Anser fabalis

Rare vagrant.

Three county records involving 33 birds up to the end of 2020.

1984 One at Ballymacoda from 28th April to the 16th May.
1982 Up to 27 at Ballintotis, near Midleton, on from the 5th to the 28th January.
1981 Two at Ballymacoda from the 25th of October, joined by three more on 21st December and all stayed in 1982. These were the first county records.

Global Distribution: breeds in Fennoscandia and northern Russia, and winters patchily in
western, central and south-east Europe, which probably holds >50% of its global
wintering population. Also found in Asia. (Birdlife International)

Tundra Bean Goose Gé Síolghé Tundra Anser serrirostris

Rare Vagrant

Two records up to the end of 2020.

2013 One at the Gearagh 27th March to 9th April.
2006 An adult at Kilcolman National Nature reserve from the 3rd to the 5th March is the only county record of this race.

Global Distribution: Breeds in northern Siberia and winters further south.

Pink-footed Goose Gé Ghobghearr Anser brachyrhynchus

Rare winter visitor, mainly seen between September and February.

Approximately 110 birds recorded in the county.

First recorded in the county in 1974.

Six records involving 17 birds up to the end of 1985 when the species was removed from the IRBC rarities list.
21 county records up to 2006, involving 62 birds. All records during that period in the greater Ballycotton area of east Cork.

Global Distribution: breeds only in Svalbard, Iceland and east Greenland, with the
entire global breeding range hence confined to Europe.(Birdlife International)

(Greater) White-fronted Goose Gé Bhánéadanach (Mórcheantar) Anser albifrons

Regular in small numbers at Kilcolman NNR, though otherwise scarce and declining winter visitor.
All records refer to the Greenland race A. a. flavirostris unless otherwise stated.

Subspecies European White-fronted Goose A. a. albifrons albifrons

Seven county records involving 14 birds up to the end of 2020, all since December 1980.

Global Distribution (both subspecies combined): North-east Europe, Asia, arctic North America and Greenland.(Birdlife International)

Greylag Goose Gé Ghlas Anser anser

Wild birds are probably best considered as scarce winter visitors, but the lack of submitted sightings may in part be due to the mobile flocks of feral birds in the region.

Formerly bred in Ireland. Only feral birds now breeding here.

Global Distribution: Europe, central and southern Asia and Iceland.

 

Summer Distribution

 

Winter Distribution

Canada Goose Gé Cheanadach Branta canadensis

Feral populations, especially those from The Lough, are very mobile, and cloud the status of true wild individuals.

One record of a wild bird.
1985 Lissagriffin, one from the 31st March to the 7th April. The race involved was Branta c. minima.

Global Distribution: This species has a large range, breeding across tundra in much of Canada, Alaska, U.S.A., and parts of the northern U.S.A., and wintering in southern North America, including Mexico. Introduced populations are now resident in much of the U.S.A. south of the normal breeding range, as well as in a number of western European countries. The subspecies asiatica, which occurred in the Bering Sea region, has been extinct since around 1914 (Fuller 2000).

Barnacle Goose Gé Ghiúrainn Branta leucopsis

Scarce winter visitor, with most records being of birds flying over coastal locations during the late autumn arrival period. Wintering birds are scarce.

Global Distribution: Breeds in east Greenland, Svalbard and north-west Russia and winters in countries bordering the North Sea and in Ireland. (Birdlife International)

Pale-bellied Brent Goose Gé Cadhan Branta bernicla hrota

Since the 1980’s this subspecies of Brent Goose species has become more regular in the county and is now commonly seen in winter at a number of locations. It remains scarce away from the east Cork strongholds.

Global Distribution: the main population breeding in northeastern Canada and wintering along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. from Maine to Georgia,[4] and two smaller populations, one breeding in Franz Josef Land, Svalbard, and northeastern Greenland and wintering in Denmark, northeast England, and Scotland, and the other breeding in the far-northeastern Canadian islands and wintering in Ireland, southwest England, and in a small but significant area, le Havre de Regnéville, centered on the Sienne Estuary in Manche (Northern France).[9] In Ireland it is recorded in winter from a number of areas including Lough Foyle, Strangford Lough, Tralee Bay and Castlemaine Harbour. (Source: Wikipedia)

The subspecies Dark-bellied Brent Goose (B. b. bernicla) is an occasional visitor with just seven records up to the end of 2020.

Global Distribution: it breeds on the Arctic coasts of central and western Siberia and winters in western Europe, with over half the population in southern England, the rest between northern Germany and north-western France.

There is one record of the subspecies Black Brant (B. b. nigricans) in Whitegate and Great Island on a number of dates between 6th December 2009 and 5th April 2010.

Global Distribution: breeds in north-western Canada, Alaska and eastern Siberia, and winters mostly on the west coast of North America from southern Alaska to California, but also some in east Asia, mainly Japan, also Korea and China. (Source: Wikipedia)

 

Winter Distribution.

 

Species seen but considered escaped from captivity or deliberately introduced into the wild.

Swan Goose Anser cygnoides

Bar-headed Goode Anser indicus

Emperor Goose Anser canagicus

Canada Goose Branta canadensis (see species account above)

Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii 

Upland Goose Chloephaga picta

Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus