Branta bernicla
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The brant or brent goose (Branta bernicla) is a small goose in the genus Branta. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra. The Brent oilfield was named after the species.
The brant was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas bernicla. Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe but in 1761 restricted it to Sweden. The brant is now one of six species placed in the genus Branta that was introduced in 1769 by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli. The genus name Branta is a Latinised form of Old Norse brandgás, "burnt (black) goose". The specific epithet bernicla is Medieval Latin for barnacle.
The brant and the similar barnacle goose were previously considered to be the same species and believed to be the same creature as the barnacle. That myth can be dated back to at least the 12th century. Gerald of Wales claimed to have seen these birds hanging down from pieces of timber, William Turner accepted the theory, and John Gerard claimed to have seen the birds emerging from their shells... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Svalbard | 🇳🇴 Norway | |
| 4 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 10 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dublin | 🇮🇪 Ireland | |
| 2 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 8 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 9 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Tama Zoological Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 3 | Centro Cicogne e Anatidi | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 4 | Tierpark Hagenbeck | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Cleres Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brant sighting in Svalbard on a given day, based on 212 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 48 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and September
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brant in Svalbard on a given day, against under 5% in April and July, the lowest months. November to January have too few records to rate.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brant sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Brant sightings, Svalbard ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, about 40%) and El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brant is recorded against all the birds logged in Svalbard (212 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
