Native to North America, cackling geese spend their summer breeding season in the cooler climes of northern Canada and Alaska. Their primary diet is composed of vegetation like sea lettuce, water lettuce, eelgrass, seaweed, and otherДў) Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) A female cackling goose with her gosling in Michigan, US вЂ“ a rare site for this location. These petite geese are most often found in marshlands and coastal estuaries, particularly in the winter, but may also be seen in ponds and, occasionally, agricultural fields. They are usually found in large flocks and mate for life. They are easily identified by their stubby tail, equally stubby black beak, and a neck with a white band below its black or dark brown head. Its body measures less than 60 cm (2 feet) in length, with a weight ranging from 1 to 5 pounds and a wingspan on average of 4 feet. The brant goose is one of the smallest geese, with the shortest tail (it almost looks as though they lack a tail entirely). In winter, they can be found on coastlines and salt marshes along the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. The brant goose, also sometimes called the brent goose, utilizes the coastal marshes of the Arctic tundra in Alaska and northern Canada during the breeding season. 1) Brant/Brent Goose (Branta bernicla) Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren / CC BY Regardless of species, most geese become quite territorial and aggressive during the breeding season (particularly when they have goslings), but are more sociable in the winter when they travel in massive flocks with waterfowl of all types. There are quite a few living goose species worldwide вЂ“ Anser contains 11 species, Branta contains 6 species (possibly as many as 8), and Chen contains 3 living species. WeвЂ™ll also consider Anser and Chen to be separate genera, rather than Chen being contained within Anser. List of Goose Species & Types of Geese Worldwide (With Pictures!)ДЇor the sake of simplicity and to hopefully lessen any confusion on the matter, here weвЂ™ll simply cover the primary species (found in North America, the UK, and the rest of Europe) and not go terribly in-depth with phylogeny or subspecies. Some others are declining in number due to climate change, habitat destruction, and poaching. These include dispersing aquatic invertebrates and seeds via both consumption and attachment to their feathers, nutrient deposition via feces that fuel plants, and helping to control aquatic plant growth that in turn opens up waterways for other organisms to use, including fish and other waterfowl.ДЄs with any organism, these services can become a detriment when populations exceed natural numbers вЂ“ many goose species have boomed beyond carrying capacity in response to human activities like widespread agriculture and an unhealthy reduction in the numbers of animals that prey on goose eggs and goslings, like foxes, eagles, and snakes. Regardless of their taxonomic position, at least one thing is certain: native geese provide many crucial ecosystem services and benefits. The results were helpful to ornithologists, but ultimately more studies must be conducted to better understand and construct the phylogenetic tree of geese. However, a study conducted in 2016 aimed to bridge that gap, and explored many of the various goose hybrids, trying to find answers as to why geese hybridize, and whether or not it provides them with adaptive advantages. Most studies regarding waterfowl hybridization have been geared toward ducks, likely because theyвЂ™re frankly easier to work with than their larger, more foul-tempered (pun absolutely intended) goose relatives. The line drawn between when an organism is a totally distinct species, when itвЂ™s a subspecies, and when itвЂ™s just a moderately different individual of the same species, is somewhat subjective, and makes the matter more complex. This phylogenetic complexity and confusion is also due to the rapid evolution and hybridization of geese for millions of years, leading there to be some uncertainty as to whether there are hundreds of goose species, or a couple dozen with each having many quite similar subspecies that arenвЂ™t quite different enough to be classified as a separate species. Why All the Confusion With Geese? Several greylag geese in a flooded grassland.

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