Aleutian Cackling Goose

Taxobox
name = Aleutian Cackling Goose


image_width = 200px
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Anseriformes
familia = Anserinae
genus = "Branta"
species = "B. hutchinsii"
subspecies = "B. h. leucopareia"
binomial = "Branta hutchinsii leucopareia"
binomial_authority = (Delacour, 1951)

The Aleutian Cackling Goose ("Branta hutchinsii leucopareia"), formerly known as the Aleutian Canada Goose ("Branta canadensis leucopareia"), is small subspecies of Cackling Goose averaging 1700 to 2100 grams.

Bering Cackling Goose ("Branta hutchinsii asiatica") is the name given to Cackling Geese on the Komandorski and Kuril Islands. This population was not markedly distinct from the Aleutian one and is usually included with that these days. By about 1920 or so (last seen 1914 or 1929), these westernmost birds went extinct from persecution by humans and Arctic Foxes.

The Aleutian Cackling Goose has the typical black head and neck, white cheek patches, grayish brown back and wings, white rump, black tail feathers, legs, and feet of the species. It is distinguished by a conspicuous white neck ring at the base of the neck that, in adult plumage, is usually greater than 10 mm wide and is subtended by a ring of darker feathers. The cheek patches are usually separated by a black line under the throat and the breast is a pale grayish-brown color, although a small number of lighter and darker breasted birds occur. The westernmost population did not appreciably differ in color, except that the neck ring was always very wide and white in the few attested specimens.

Similar in appearance is the Small Cackling Goose ("B. h. minima") which is smaller in size and have a dark breast color with a purplish or brownish cast whereas Taverner's Cackling Geese ("B. h. taverneri") are larger and have a lighter breast color. Both "minima" and "taverneri" sometimes have white neck rings but these are usually narrow or indistinct.

The primary threat to the Aleutian Cackling Goose has been the Arctic Fox, introduced to the Aleutian Islands by Russian fur traders between 1836 and 1930. The Cackling Canada Goose was considered extinct until a colony was discovered on Buldir Island in 1962. Since then, the Aleutian Cackling Goose has made a comeback and was removed from the endangered species list in 2001.

External links

* [http://alaska.fws.gov/media/finalqanda.html U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Aleutian Canada Goose]
* [http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/WWW/esis/lists/e107001.htm Aleutian Canada Goose taxonomy]