Rare vagrant to Lord Howe Island. Common in New Zealand.
Habitat
Pastures, crops, shallows of wetlands, usually in flocks. Seem to favour man-made and semi-urban habitats, including ornamental lakes, flooded gravel pits, reservoirs and nearby open meadows with low vegetation.
Bahamas, Canada (B) (NB) (P), Cayman Islands, Cuba, Greenland (B), Haiti, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St Pierre and Miquelon (B) (NB) (P), Turks and Caicos Islands, USA (B).
Vagrant to Australia, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Iceland, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia (B) (NB), Liechtenstein, Lithuania (NB), Luxembourg (NB), Marshall Islands, North Korea, Portugal, Russia (Asian), Russia (Central Asian), Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia, South Korea, Spain.
Introduced to Austria, Belgium (B) (NB), Czech Republic, Denmark (B) (NB) (P), Faroe Islands (B), Finland (B), France (NB), Germany (B) (NB), Netherlands (B) (NB), New Zealand (B), Norway (B) (NB), Poland (NB), Russia (European), Sweden (B) (NB), Ukraine, United Kingdom (B) (NB).
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) [XC475867]
by Sunny Tseng from Mendip District,(near Westhay), Somerset, England, United Kingdom (call, wing beats)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) [XC856503]
by Daniel Parker from Arrondissement d'Orl\u00e9ans (near Ch\u00e9cy), Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire, France (nocturnal flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia.
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Nest
A pile of leaves and vegetation on the ground, in grass, usually near water.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 5 - 6; matt, cream or white; ellipsoidal. Incubation: about 28 days; by female.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
Branta canadensis (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) and Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) following AOU (2004).
Subspecies maxima, and moffitti, being introduced into New Zealand.
The following 11 subspecies are recognised:
leucopareia (von Brandt, 1836) - Aleutian Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii).
minima Ridgway, 1885 - Coastal western Alaska. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii).
taverneri Delacour, 1951 - Alaska Peninsula to Mackenzie Delta. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii).
occidentalis (Baird, SF, 1858) - South-western Alaska.
fulva Delacour, 1951 - Coastal southern Alaska, western British Columbia.
parvipes (Cassin, 1852) - Inland Canada.
moffitti Aldrich, 1946 - Great Basin of Canada.
maxima Delacour, 1951 - Coastal western Alaska.
hutchinsii (Richardson, 1832) - Central Canada. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet