30 March 2024
Yesterday morning Amy Henrici found a barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) with a flock of Canada geese on the Allegheny River in East Deer Twp. This is an incredibly rare bird for Pittsburgh considering that its winter range is in Northern Europe.
Barnacle geese breed in the Arctic — Greenland, Svalbard and Siberia — plus a few places in Northern Europe, and spend the winter in Ireland, the UK, and the coast of the North Sea.
My original guess was that this one accidentally turned southwest (instead of southeast) when it left Greenland and eventually arrived in Pittsburgh 3,000 miles away.
But I’m probably wrong! Mike Fialkovich pointed out:
Barnacle Geese are annual in southeastern PA, appearing in fall and late winter/early spring. They typically are present a few days and then move on, presumably migrating back to the breeding grounds.
— Mike Fialkovich comment on this article, see comments section
So this goose may well be a regular southeastern PA visitor that made his way west of the Appalachians.
Many birders have visited the hotspot to catch a glimpse of the bird. Corvus captured awesome photos.
My day was so busy on Saturday that I did not go see the goose but I’ve seen them in Finland so I didn’t feel too bad. I stopped by Sunday morning, 30 March, and saw him for myself.
I can’t believe I wrote about barnacle geese just three weeks ago, knowing we would never see one in Pittsburgh because they never come here. And now one has.
Kate, Thank you so much for the news of the Barnacle goose. It is really cute. Will it get lonely and return home or will it integrate into a local flock? I really enjoy all of your posts, no matter the subject. Keep up th good work …Kat
Kathryn, I don’t know.
He appears to have been accepted. Do you think he will crossbreed? Interesting. Sunday Blessings to you, Kate and thanks very much.
He’s been accepted by the Canada geese (not bullied). I have no idea about cross breeding.
Barnacle Geese are annual in southeastern PA, appearing in fall and late winter/early spring. They typically are present a few days and then move on, presumably migrating back to the breeding grounds. This is a first for this part of Pennsylvania.
I saw a Canada Goose lunge at the Barnacle once or twice while I was watching it, but for the most part they did not seem to bother it.
Thank you, Mike. That was the bit if information I was missing. I’ve updated the blog to reflect this news.