When people think of geese, the “Canadian honker,” or Canada goose, might come to mind. The West Sound has those and then some: It also hosts the diminutive cackling goose, the less-common greater white-fronted goose, the occasional snow goose, and the saltwater-loving brant.
About the size of a mallard duck, the brant is a small, stubby-billed goose with striking black, brown, and white plumage. Its name derives from brandgaes, an Old Norse word meaning “burnt goose” due to its dark coloration.
The brant breeds in the Arctic, farther north than any other goose, and winters along coastal and inland waters. The Pacific brant has a wide white necklace and winters between Alaska and Baja California. The Atlantic brant has a smaller white necklace and winters between Canada’s Hudson Bay and North Carolina.
Brants fly at an average speed of 50 miles per hour. While flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet and with a tailwind, migration flight speed can exceed 100 miles per hour. Brants have the longest nonstop flight of any waterfowl. Many flocks bypass Pacific Northwest waters by flying from Alaska to Baja California — a distance of about 3,000 miles — in 50 hours. Brants lose a third of their body weight on this incredible journey, during which mated pairs fly side-by-side.
Locally, from November to March, brants are usually seen in flocks of a few dozen to a few hundred individuals while foraging along Puget Sound shorelines, particularly around Hansville and the east side of Bainbridge Island. Smaller groups are sometimes seen in the Hood Canal.
Winter flocks forage in shallow saltwater for eelgrass, a brant’s preferred food choice, particularly during rising and falling tides. When eelgrass is unavailable, brants graze on land grass like other geese. Small amounts of aquatic invertebrates may also be consumed.
Most brants form breeding colonies in lower Arctic wetlands with thick vegetation. Smaller colonies and solitary pairs nest in the higher Arctic on islands and deltas. On the wintering grounds, brants form pairs in their second year, and males follow females to their birthplace.
Clutch size is three to five eggs, which are incubated for 23 to 24 days in a shallow grass-lined depression that serves as a nest. Hatchlings leave the nest within a day and can immediately swim and feed themselves. Juveniles stay close to their parents for 40 to 50 days and stay with their family unit during their first migration.
Multiple families migrate together, and a hierarchy exists within the flock: Pairs with young dominate pairs with no young, who in turn dominate the bachelors and bachelorettes.
The brant is susceptible to human interference on both its breeding and wintering grounds. Populations can fluctuate or become concentrated to a small area due to the lack of availability of eelgrass and habitat loss along shorelines.
The brant is a unique goose in both appearance and lifestyle. This attractive bird adds a bit of flair to our local shorelines in winter. The extraordinary goose is not to be overlooked.