Barnacle Goose

The Barnacle Goose is a compact, contrastingly plumaged goose of the North Atlantic, named for an old folk belief that it hatched from goose barnacles rather than an egg. It breeds on steep Arctic cliffs and coastal tundra in Greenland, Svalbard, and Novaya Zemlya, and winters in dense flocks on coastal grassland and saltmarsh in northwest Europe. Its bold black, white, and gray pattern makes it one of the more instantly recognizable geese at any distance.

Feathers from the head, neck, and breast are solid black, sharply set off from the creamy-white face. Flank and back feathers are pale silvery-gray with fine, even black barring near the tip, giving a soft scalloped or lace-like texture rather than the coarse scaling seen in gray geese. Primaries and secondaries are blackish-brown with little pattern. Compare with the Brant, which is uniformly darker with only a small white neck patch and lacks the barnacle's extensive white face and barred flanks; and with Canada Goose, whose flank feathers are plain brown without barring.

Sexes look alike year-round, with males averaging only slightly larger. Juveniles are duller, with less crisply defined barring on the flanks and a grayer wash to the face. Adults undergo a complete molt on the Arctic breeding grounds in midsummer, becoming flightless for several weeks while flightless goslings are still growing their own feathers.

Breeds on narrow cliff ledges and rocky Arctic coastlines, nesting well above ground to avoid mammalian predators. Winters almost entirely on low-lying coastal grassland, saltmarsh, and estuaries in the British Isles, the Netherlands, and neighboring areas, with a growing number of feral and reintroduced populations breeding at lower latitudes in Europe.

An almost entirely herbivorous grazer, feeding on short grasses, sedges, and saltmarsh vegetation in tightly packed flocks. Nests are placed on cliff ledges, and famously, downy goslings must jump from considerable heights within a day or two of hatching to reach feeding grounds below, since neither parent can carry them down. Highly gregarious and vocal, with a rapid, barking chatter given almost constantly in flight and while feeding.