IRISH BRENT GOOSE RESEARCH GROUP
WHO WE ARE
The Irish Brent Goose Research Group (IBGRG) is dedicated to the conservation of Light-bellied Brent Geese in Ireland, through a programme of research and monitoring, education and outreach activities. The group is comprised of interested individuals and representatives of key stakeholder groups which have the conservation of the population as a shared interest. These include: The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), BirdWatch Ireland (BWI), The National Trust (NT), University of Exeter, and Queen's University Belfast (QUB).
The Group was established in 1996 as a consultative group to guide and stimulate interest in the conservation of this species. In the last 10 years the activities of the group have grown considerably, including a range of educational and outreach initiatives, and research throughout the flyway in Iceland and Canada. As such we have established solid working relationships with individuals within the Canadian Wildlife Service, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and Icelandic Institute of Natural History.
WHY BRENT GEESE?
This population is from the breeding stock distributed during the summer in the eastern Queen Elizabeth Islands in Canada's High Arctic, north of Lancaster Sound, north to the northern tip of Ellesmere Island and west to eastern Melville Island. This majority of the population stages in western Iceland in spring and autumn. While the wintering range extends as far south as NW Spain (small numbers), the most southerly significant concentration is found in northern France. Ireland is especially important as a wintering ground as almost the entire population occur on the island during autumn and winter. Holding such a large proportion of this flyway population, coastal sites all around Ireland are especially important.
WHAT WE DO
The Group is involved in a wide range of activities including: co-ordination of international annual censuses, co-ordination of an international ringing and resightings programme, applied research, and development and implementation of an AEWA Single Species Action Plan. Much of the work of the group is in support of the work programme which forms part of a WWT-led International Research programme funded and supported centrally by NPWS and EHS and in collaboration with IINH (Iceland) and CWS (Ottawa).KEY FACTS
Range:
Canada, Greenland (breeding), Iceland (spring and autumn staging), Ireland, Britain, France, Spain
Population Size:
Currently 35,000 - 40,000 (2007 data)
Latin Name:
Branta bernicla hrota (hrota after an old Icelandic onomatopoeic name)
Not to be confused with: 2 other pale-bellied forms of Brent: East Atlantic Brent (breeding Svalbard and NE Greenland, wintering Denmark and Lindisfarne, England)
Eastern Low Arctic Brant (breeding low Arctic Canadian Islands of Baffin, Southampton, Foxe Basin, wintering Atlantic seaboard of N America)
and an intermediate form (between B bernicla nigricans and hrota) Western High Arctic Brant (breeding western Queen Elizabeth Islands, incl. Melville and Prince Patrick, wintering on Pacific coast, mainly Puget Sound, Washington State)
How heavy?
We have caught a total mass of over 3.1 tonnes of Brent Geese since 2001!
Typical adult weights vary between 0.87kg and 2.22kg (females) and 1.05kg to 2.29kg (males). Juveniles (caught in the breeding grounds) average at about 900g in early August.
HAVE YOU SEEN A MARKED BIRD?
Submit your resightings here or find out more about this aspect of the project here
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Webmaster/Design: Kendrew Colhoun.
This page was last updated on 09 October 2008.