Guide to North American Birds

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An attractive small goose, nesting on Arctic coasts from northeastern Greenland east to Siberia, and wintering in northwestern Europe. Greenland birds may occasionally go off course and reach northeastern North America. However, this is a popular aviary bird, and most Barnacle Geese seen on this continent have probably escaped from captivity.
Family Ducks and Geese
An attractive small goose, nesting on Arctic coasts from northeastern Greenland east to Siberia, and wintering in northwestern Europe. Greenland birds may occasionally go off course and reach northeastern North America. However, this is a popular aviary bird, and most Barnacle Geese seen on this continent have probably escaped from captivity.

Photo Gallery




Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.

Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds

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Songs and Calls

A short barking note, sometimes rapidly repeated.
Audio © Lang Elliott, Bob McGuire, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and others.
Learn more about this sound collection.

Barnacle Goose In the News More News

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A colony of Dovekies at their cliffside nesting spot on the west coast of Svalbard. Florian Schulz/visionsofthewild.com
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