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Sporting Answers: Todd’s Canada goose
<strong>Q) During the past winter there was a single small Canada goose mixed in with the barnacle flock here in Dumfries & Galloway. Local birdwatchers told me that it was a Todd’s Canada goose, but do you have any more information? R. MCTAVISH Dumfries and Galloway</strong>
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A) There are about a dozen recognised races of Canada goose. The familiar bird which is resident here, Branta canadensis, is one of the largest, but most of the others are smaller. The smallest of them all is the cackling Canada which is not much bigger than a mallard. Todd?s Canada, Branta c. interior, is medium sized, and is recognisable by its long thin neck, dull greyish-fawn breast and rather dull cheek patches.
Todd?s is one of the rarer of the various races of Canada goose that have been recorded in the British Isles. Every year a number of these smaller Canadas are seen here. They are almost always with flocks of migratory geese, such as barnacles or whitefronts, suggesting they have become mixed with these on the breeding grounds, and inadvertently carried here with them on migration.
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