Branta

Belongs within: Anserinae.

The genus Branta contains the black geese of northern parts of Eurasia and North America. Branta species have contrastingly patterned black or brown and white plumage, and black legs and bills. The type species, the brent goose Branta bernicla is a primarily coastal species found over most of the genus’ range, with a black head and neck and streaked white throat patch. The Canada goose B. canadensis is native to North America but has been widely introduced for hunting to regions such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and southern South America. Like the brent goose, it has a mostly black head and neck but with a solid white patch across the cheeks and chin. The red-breasted goose B. ruficollis, which breeds in northern central Russia, is marked by chestnut-coloured patches on the chest, throat and cheeks.

<==Branta Scopoli 1769CC10 [=BrentaB94; incl. Bernicla Boie 1822B94; Berniclinae, Brantinae]
    |  i. s.: B. minor Kessler & Gál 1996M02
    |--+--*B. bernicla (Linnaeus 1758)CC10, PJ02, CS77 [=Anas berniclaCC10, Anser berniclaJ23, Brenthus berniclaS05]
    |  |    |--B. b. bernicla [incl. Anser brenta Brisson 1760, A. brenthus, Bernicla brenta]S05
    |  |    |--B. b. glaucogaster (Brehm 1831) (see below for synonymy)S05
    |  |    |--B. b. hrota (Müller 1776)CS77
    |  |    |--B. b. nigricans (Lawrence 1846)CS77 [=Anser nigricansS05, Bernicla brenta var. nigricansS05]
    |  |    `--B. b. orientalis Tougarinov 1941I92
    |  `--B. ruficollis (Pallas 1769)PJ02, M02 [=Anas ruficollisM02, Anser ruficollisCS77]
    `--+--+--B. leucopsis (Bechstein 1803)PJ02, CS77 (see below for synonymy)
       |  `--+--B. hutchinsii (Richardson in Swainson & Richardson 1832)PJ02, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
       |     |--B. minima [=B. canadensis minima]PJ02
       |     `--B. taverneri [=B. canadensis taverneri]PJ02
       `--+--B. canadensis (Linnaeus 1758)PJ02, CC10 [=Anas canadensisCC10, Anser canadensisS05, Cygnus canadensisJ23]
          |    |--B. c. canadensisPJ02
          |    |--B. c. asiaticaRN72
          |    |--B. c. fulvaRN72
          |    |--B. c. interiorPJ02
          |    |--B. c. maxima Delacour 1951CC10
          |    |--B. c. moffitti Aldrich 1946R85
          |    |--B. c. occidentalis (Baird 1858) [=Bernicla occidentalis, Be. canadensis occidentalis]S05
          |    `--B. c. parvipesPJ02
          `--+--B. hylobadistesPJ02
             `--B. sandvicensisPJ02 [=Nesochen sandvicensisBS00]

Branta bernicla glaucogaster (Brehm 1831) [=Bernicla glaucogaster, Anser brenta glaucogaster; incl. A. torquatus Winge 1898]^S05

Branta hutchinsii (Richardson in Swainson & Richardson 1832)^{PJ02, CC10} [=Anser hutchinsii^CC10, Bernicla hutchinsii^S05, Branta canadensis hutchinsii^PJ02; incl. Anser leucopareius Brandt 1836^S06, Bernicla canadensis leucoparia^S05, Branta canadensis leucopareia^I92, Br. leucopareius^S05]

Branta leucopsis (Bechstein 1803)^{PJ02, CS77} [=Anas leucopsis^CS77, Anser leucopsis^S05, Bernicla leucopsis^S05, Brenta leucopsis^S05]

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[BS00] Ballard, H. E., Jr & K. J. Systsma. 2000. Evolution and biogeography of the woody Hawaiian violets (Viola, Violaceae): Arctic origins, herbaceous ancestry and bird dispersal. Evolution 54 (5): 1521–1532.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[J23] James, E. 1823. Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819 and ’20, by order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, sec’y of war: under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the exploring party vol. 1. H. C. Carey & I. Lea: Philadelphia.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[PJ02] Paxinos, E. E., H. F. James, S. L. Olson, M. D. Sorenson, J. Jackson & R. C. Fleischer. 2002. MtDNA from fossils reveals a radiation of Hawaiian geese recently derived from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 99: 1399–1404.

[R85] Robertson, C. J. R. (ed.) 1985. Reader’s Digest Complete Book of New Zealand Birds. Reader’s Digest: Sydney.

[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. Blandford Press: London.

[S05] Schalow, H. 1905. Die Vögel der Arktis. In: Römer, F., & F. Schaudinn (eds) Fauna Arctica. Eine Zusammenstellun der arktischen Tierformen, mit besonder Berücksichtigung des Spitzbergen-Gebietes auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Deutschen Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer im Jahre 1898 vol. 4 pp. 79–288. Gustav Fischer: Jena.