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education: birds of georgia Brant, Branta bernicla
Status: Accidental in winter, mainly along the Coast with eleven confirmed records: 10 Mar 1897 (McIntosh), fall 1926 (Chatham), 29 Dec 1948 (Glynn), 24 Dec 1953 (Chatham), 14 Feb 1971 (McIntosh), 5 Jan 1976 (McIntosh), 3 Jan 1980 (Ware), 27 Jan 1990 (Camden), 17 Nov 2000 (Glynn), winter 2001(Camden) (Beaton, et al, 2001). Habitat: Salt bays and estuaries in winter and tundra in summer. Nests on wet tundra of high arctic further north than any other goose. Most birds winter from NC north to MA with strays coast of se states.(Kaufman, 1996) Diet: Plant material. Eelgrass favored where available, but forages on other salt water grasses and algae. Also grazes on grasses as on soccer field on Jekyll Island in Nov 2000(Kaufman, 1996). Georgia coast not ideal habitat because it lacks eelgrass beds. Identification: A small dark goose (L 25", WT 3.1 lb) with a small bill, black head, neck and breast, gray belly, white vent, rump and undertail coverts. Tail dark but mostly hidden by white tail coverts. Neck shows partial white collar. Three breeding populations differ by plumage: Black nests in western part of range and winters on Pacific coast, Intermediate nests on Melville Island and winters on Puget Sound, and Pale-bellied nests in eastern part of range and winters on our Atlantic coast and Ireland (Sibley, 2000). Georgia birds pertain to Pale-bellied race that show pale gray bellies instead of much darker gray of other races. Little range overlap in winter (Sibley). Conservation: Species apparently stable owing to remoteness of nesting areas. Die-offs of eelgrass can negatively affect populations, as in 1930's along n Atlantic coast (Kaufman).
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