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Cackling Goose question, Normandy, France (1 Viewer)

P

Pat MS

Well-known member
This bird was on a lake in a small town in inland Normandy last week. It was one of a pair. There were no other geese of any kind. It was slightly bigger than the Mallards. On looking it up and judging by size, it appears to be a Cackling Goose, probably species Branta hutchinsii minima. It was definitely much smaller than a Canada Goose.

As this is a North American species, my question is whether it is likely to be a wild bird? There seem to have been a few recorded here in southern UK recently.

Thanks

Pat
 

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Cackling goose, definitely.

Wild, very likely. There are established (introduced) populations in Britain, France (especially the north coast), Benelux, etc. There are occasional wanderers from the Americas too.
 
nartreb said:
Cackling goose, definitely.

Wild, very likely. There are established (introduced) populations in Britain, France (especially the north coast), Benelux, etc. There are occasional wanderers from the Americas too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarification
 
nartreb said:
Cackling goose, definitely.

Wild, very likely. There are established (introduced) populations in Britain, France (especially the north coast), Benelux, etc. There are occasional wanderers from the Americas too.
Click to expand...

No established populations of Cackling Goose here in the UK, though occasional escapes/vagrants occur.
 
Birdguides has two fairly recent reports of Cackling Goose, one on 4 December at Arlington Reservoir, believed to be an escape, and one on 5 December at Cuckmere Haven - both East Sussex.
 
Just to clarify a few things. The feral populations in Europe, such as in Britain, parts of France, Ireland and so on, are of Canada Geese, not Cackling. Also, while we have no way of knowing for sure, records of minima Cackling Goose often are assumed to refer to escapes, with hutchinsii seen with flocks of suitable carrier species being the birds that tend to get accepted as (probably) being wild vagrants. The circumstances in which you encountered this bird, on what sounds basically like a 'duck pond', as part of a pair also (was the other bird the same as this?) suggests that this, too, was a likely escape. I agree with the identification as minima Cackling, by the way. The very dark brown breast fits this form well, as does the apparent bill structure.
 
HH75 said:
Just to clarify a few things. The feral populations in Europe, such as in Britain, parts of France, Ireland and so on, are of Canada Geese, not Cackling. Also, while we have no way of knowing for sure, records of minima Cackling Goose often are assumed to refer to escapes, with hutchinsii seen with flocks of suitable carrier species being the birds that tend to get accepted as (probably) being wild vagrants. The circumstances in which you encountered this bird, on what sounds basically like a 'duck pond', as part of a pair also (was the other bird the same as this?) suggests that this, too, was a likely escape. I agree with the identification as minima Cackling, by the way. The very dark brown breast fits this form well, as does the apparent bill structure.
Click to expand...
The lake is bigger than a duck pond, being formed from a river tributary. The other bird was the same. There were no other geese of any type on this lake, a bigger lake about 5 miles away nor in the surrounding countryside.
 
Pat MS said:
The lake is bigger than a duck pond, being formed from a river tributary. The other bird was the same. There were no other geese of any type on this lake, a bigger lake about 5 miles away nor in the surrounding countryside.
Click to expand...

Again, the odds of two Cackling Geese of a form found fairly far to the west in North America managing to cross the Atlantic together and then wind up in inland Normandy without any other geese being present as a potential carrier flock for them to have tagged along with some of the way are very slim. Much more likely that these birds are escapes. But we can't know for certain, I suppose, just speak in terms of probabilities.
 
Just out of interest was this lake in the town of Bagnoles, as I was here over christmas, and watched an identical pair as shown in your photo ?

Mark.S








Pat MS said:
This bird was on a lake in a small town in inland Normandy last week. It was one of a pair. There were no other geese of any kind. It was slightly bigger than the Mallards. On looking it up and judging by size, it appears to be a Cackling Goose, probably species Branta hutchinsii minima. It was definitely much smaller than a Canada Goose.

As this is a North American species, my question is whether it is likely to be a wild bird? There seem to have been a few recorded here in southern UK recently.

Thanks

Pat
Click to expand...
 
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