Saving wetlands for wildlife & people

Barnacle Goose
Branta leucopsis
Barnacle Geese © Paul Marshall
Three populations of Barnacle Geese occur worldwide, two of which winter in UK. The Greenland Barnacle Goose breeds in northeast Greenland and winters exclusively in Britain and Ireland, primarily on Hebridean Islands off western Scotland, and as far north as Orkney, and the western coast of Ireland, again mainly on remote islands. The Svalbard Barnacle Goose breeds in the Svalbard archipelago and winters almost entirely on the Solway Firth, primarily on the Scottish side, though small numbers remain through the winter at some staging sites in northeast Scotland. A third population, the North Russia/East Baltic Barnacle Goose winters largely in the Netherlands; very small numbers may occur in Britain, mostly East Anglia, during cold weather influxes accompanying other goose species. In addition, a small population of Naturalised Barnacle Geese is resident in southern Britain, probably derived mainly from escaped and released birds.





The Goose & Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP) monitors numbers and breeding success of geese and swans in the UK during the non-breeding season. GSMP is organised by WWT on behalf of WWT and JNCC.

Email: monitoring@wwt.org.uk