Lesser Canada Goose admitted to the British List
9 March 2016
The British Ornithologists’ Records Committee (BOURC) is delighted to announce the addition of the 601st species to the British List.
Lesser Canada Goose (Cackling Goose) Branta hutchinsii
Adult, Plex Moss, Lancashire, 14-28 November 1976 (photographed).
The taxonomy of the Canada goose species complex has undergone revision, with separation of Greater Canada Goose B. canadensis and Lesser Canada Goose to specific level, with each species proposed to consist of a number of subspecies.
Having considered a number of candidates it was deemed that the Plex Moss, Lancashire individual could be accepted as the first record of B. hutchinsii. The subspecies was undetermined, but probably nominate hutchinsii.
Breeds in northern North America, migrating to winter further south in Canada and the USA.
Lesser Canada Goose should be placed after Greater Canada Goose on the British List.
Further details will be published as part of the BOURC’s 46th report due to be published in IBIS in January 2017, and upon publication, the British List will stand at 601 species (Category A = 583; Category B = 8; Category C = 10).
Image Credit: Top right © Rob Lowe/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Wikimedia Commons