Bernache du Canada— Quebec wildlife

The Canada goose (Branta canadensis) is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the Arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is occasionally found during migration across the Atlantic in northern Europe. It has been introduced to France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands. Like most geese, the Canada goose is primarily herbivorous and normally migratory; often found on or close to fresh water, the Canada goose is also common in brackish marshes, estuaries, and lagoons. Adept at living in human-altered areas, Canada geese have established breeding colonies in urban and cultivated habitats, which provide food and have few natural predators. The success of this common park species has led to it often being considered a pest species. This is because of its excrement, its depredation of crops, its noise, its aggressive territorial behavior toward both humans and other animals, and its habit of stalking and begging for food. The last is a result of humans not following artificial feeding policies toward wild animals.

Description

The black head and neck with a white "chinstrap" distinguish the Canada goose from all other goose species except the cackling goose and barnacle goose. (The latter, however, has a black breast and gray rather than brownish body plumage.) Some Canada geese come with a pepper-spotted or brown neck with brown plumage, and these are assumed to be a leucistic variety. On occasion, individuals with dark cheeks, white foreheads or white necks may be seen The seven subspecies of this bird vary widely in size and plumage details but all are recognizable as Canada geese. Some of the smaller subspecies can be hard to distinguish from the cackling goose, which slightly overlap in mass. However most subspecies of the cackling goose (exclusive of Richardson's cackling goose, B. h. hutchinsii) are considerably smaller. The smallest cackling goose, B. h. minima, is scarcely larger than a mallard. In addition to the size difference, cackling geese also have a shorter neck and smaller bill, which can be useful when small Canada geese comingle with relatively large cackling geese. Of the "true geese" (i.e. the genera Anser and Branta), the Canada goose is on average the largest living species, although some other species that are geese in name, if not of close relation to these genera, are on average heavier, such as the spur-winged goose and Cape Barren goose. Canada geese range from 75 to 110 cm (30 to 43 in) in length and have a 127–185 cm (50–73 in) wingspan. Among standard measurements, the wing chord can range from 39 to 55 cm (15+1⁄2 to 21+1⁄2 in), the tarsus can range from 6.9 to 10.6 cm (2+11⁄16 to 4+3⁄16 in) and the bill can range from 4.1 to 6.8 cm (1+5⁄8 to 2+11⁄16 in). The largest subspecies is B. c.