Barnacle Goose

How to recognise it

• White sides of the head and white forehead, with a black line from bill to eye
• Black crown, neck and breast in strong contrast to the white belly
• Barred grey upperparts, and a white V-shaped rump patch in flight
• Male and female look alike, young birds are browner with less distinct flank bars

Call and song

It is noisy, with a single barking “ka”. In large flocks the calls form a chorus at different pitches, and from a distance they can be mistaken for dogs barking.

Where and when

The Barnacle Goose is a partial migrant that breeds in Sweden, now along the east coast up to Norrbotten and since the late 1990s also on the west coast. It nests near the coast on rock ledges, grassy shores, low islands and flat sandbars. It is reported most in October. Its share of all bird reports is highest in Blekinge, Halland and Gotland.

Food and behaviour

It eats plants, including willow, and in winter mainly short grass. Outside the breeding season it lives in flocks and often joins other goose species. It nests in large colonies or alone, and the parents take the young to the water almost straight after hatching.