A Massive Seagrass Project Is Restoring a Lost Food Web for Wintering Geese
When the Chesapeake Bay's eelgrass forests disappeared, Atlantic Brant lost a major food source. Decades of work have helped reverse those losses.
Adult eastern. Photo: Alberto VO5/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Branta bernicla
Conservation status | In 1930s, a sudden die-off of eelgrass along Atlantic Coast (the main winter food of Brant) may have had serious impact on this species. No long-term damage to numbers, as Brant were able to switch to other food sources, and eelgrass has made partial recovery in these areas. |
---|---|
Family | Ducks and Geese |
Habitat | Salt bays, estuaries; tundra (summer). Usually on wet coastal tundra of high Arctic in summer, along coastlines in fairly mild climates in winter. Migrants may make regular stopovers on a few freshwater lakes in the interior of the continent. |
forages by wading or tipping up in shallow water, or by walking on tidal flats or on shore. Feeds in flocks at most times of year.
3-5, rarely up to 8. Creamy white to pale olive, becoming nest-stained. Incubation is by female only, 22-26 days, usually 24. When female leaves nest to feed, she covers eggs with down, keeping them warm. Young: leave nest within 1-2 days after hatching, are tended by both parents and led to feeding areas, where young find their own food. In long daylight of high Arctic, young feed at all hours and develop rapidly, fledging at 40-50 days.
leave nest within 1-2 days after hatching, are tended by both parents and led to feeding areas, where young find their own food. In long daylight of high Arctic, young feed at all hours and develop rapidly, fledging at 40-50 days.
mostly plant material. In migration and winter, eats aquatic plants; eelgrass heavily favored where available, also takes wigeon grass, rockgrass, green algae, others. On breeding grounds, grazes on sedges, grasses, pondweed, others. Also eat a few aquatic insects, mollusks, worms.
Pair bond usually formed on wintering grounds. Often breeds in loose colonies. Nest site is on small island in tundra pond, slight rise in low grassy flats, usually within 1-5 miles of coast and often subject to destruction by storm tides. Nest is a shallow bowl of grass and other materials, heavily lined with down.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
When the Chesapeake Bay's eelgrass forests disappeared, Atlantic Brant lost a major food source. Decades of work have helped reverse those losses.
Portland Audubon calls on Oregon's congressional delegation to champion the Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act.
From smartphones to electric-car batteries, minerals are essential. Can places like Alaska's Bristol Bay survive unscathed?
Let us send you the latest in bird and conservation news.
Visit your local Audubon center, join a chapter, or help save birds with your state program.
Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats. Your support helps secure a future for birds at risk.
Our email newsletter shares the latest programs and initiatives.