Brant

Brant
Brant undertake one of the longest migrations of any waterfowl. From nesting areas on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, some Brant fly nonstop for 3,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to wintering grounds on the coast of Mexico. Others migrate by way of the Hudson Bay and then overland to winter on the Atlantic Coast. The total distance traveled for some of the swift-flying Brant may be as much as 7,000 miles.

Three subspecies of Brant are recognized. The nominate race is called Brent Goose in Europe; it breeds in Arctic Siberia and winters in northwestern Europe. Two races occur in North America. The Atlantic Brant breeds from the Central Canadian Arctic through Greenland to Svalbard and Franz Josef Land north of the Barents Sea. Some geese in this subspecies winter in Ireland and Denmark. Canadian Atlantic Brant winter in estuaries and coastal pastures from Cape Cod to North Carolina. The largest concentrations occur at Barnegat and Forsythe (formerly Brigantine) National Wildlife refuges in New Jersey.

The Pacific, or Black, Brant breeds in eastern Siberia and along the northern coast of Alaska and western Canada. The Pacific subspecies winters along the West Coast from British Columbia to Baja California. Recent habitat degradation because of the decline of submerged vegetation has caused the Pacific population to extend its winter range increasingly southward.
Brant Range Map

Brant arrive already paired on the Arctic breeding grounds in early June and nest in small colonies on the tundra either within a few miles of the coast or on islands off the coast. The pair bond is long lasting, and pairs tend to return to the same sites to breed. The nest, placed in a depression amid clumps of vegetation, is lined with bits of seaweed, moss, lichen, and down. The female incubates three to five eggs, and when she leaves to forage, she covers them with down. The young hatch in about three weeks. They leave the nest within one or two days and are led to feeding areas where they find their own food. During the long Arctic days, fledglings feed almost constantly and grow rapidly. They usually do not mate before they are three years old. Family groups stay together through the first winter. Brant leave the breeding grounds anywhere from mid-September to the beginning of October as ice begins to form.

Brant are rarely found on fresh water except during migration. Like most geese, they are social creatures, and they typically forage together in flocks. On the breeding grounds they consume grasses and sedges, algae, moss, lichen, and invertebrates. During winter, Brant primarily feed in tidal mud flats on submerged vegetation. The roots and stems, and to a lesser extent the long strap-like leaves, of eelgrass are preferred. An eelgrass disease in the 1930s led to a drastic crash in Brant populations and to their increased use of other food sources, including sea lettuce; this is also when Brant began foraging on cultivated grass and cord grass. When few young are produced, severe weather on the breeding grounds can be a factor. Wintering population counts of the Atlantic subspecies varied from 266,000 in 1961 to 42,000 in 1973.

Description: Brant are small dark geese only slightly larger than mallards. In flight they form unorganized flocks, or slanting lines that undulate low over the water. Flocks in the form of shallow Vs are sometimes formed.

Although males are slightly larger, the sexes are not distinguishable. Brant have black heads, necks, and upper breasts, contrasting slightly with the dark brown upperparts. There is a white "necklace" on the sides of the neck. The black tail is almost completely hidden by white tail coverts, and the ventral region is white also.

The flanks and belly of the Atlantic subspecies are grayish brown. The Black subspecies is generally darker, with a dark belly and lower flanks and contrasting whitish upper flanks. The necklace of the Black subspecies is more extensive, extending across the front of the neck. Juveniles look much like adults, but they are duller and lack the white neck patches. These patches are attained during the first winter.