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Biology

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During winter, the red-breasted goose feeds on winter wheat, barley, maize, pasture grasses and natural grassland (2). When it moves to the breeding grounds in early June, the diet changes, and consists primarily of grass leaves and shoots (8). In the second half of June, females lay between three and ten eggs, which are incubated for around 25 days (8). Nests are built in close proximity to other red-breasted goose nests, and also to the nests of peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) and snowy owls (Nyctea scandiaca), as these birds provide protection from predators, improving breeding success of the geese (2). The chicks fledge at between five to six weeks of age. In mid-September, the red-breasted geese begin their migration back to the western Black Sea coast, arriving in October or November (8).
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Conservation

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The red-breasted goose is legally protected in many key states, and parts of the breeding and wintering ranges are protected, but hunting continues regardless. Wintering sites in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine are on a monitoring programme through the Red-breasted Goose Monitoring and Research Programme. The goal is to provide up-to-date information regarding the status of the species, its habitat, movements, ecology, and conservation needs (10). In Bulgaria, a management plan is being implemented for roosting lakes (2). In Romania, a management plan was drafted for Lake Techirghiol in 2008 along with the Romanian National Action Plan (10). An International Action Plan was published in 1996, which proposed a number of conservation measures for the red-breasted goose. These included the expansion of monitoring and research programmes, protection of key sites, control of illegal hunting, promotion of beneficial agricultural policies and the continuation of public awareness initiatives (8). The Red-breasted Goose International Working Group is an informal expert group of organisations, working to implement the International Action Plan and protect this globally threatened species (9). In February 2009 a Life/AEWA Red-breasted Goose Workshop took place in Constanta, Romania. The aim of the workshop was two-fold: to draft a new International Species Action Plan and to report the results of the Life project “Improving wintering conditions for Branta ruficollis at Techirghiol” (10).
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Description

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With beautifully defined blocks of colour, the red-breasted goose is one of the most attractive goose species in the world, but also one of the rarest (8). The fore-neck, breast and sides of the head are chestnut red bordered with white. The wings, back and fore-belly are charcoal black, with a bright white stripe running down the side to the white rear belly. The short neck and dark belly stand out in flight, and when seen from above two crescent-shaped stripes are visible on each wing. Juveniles are less well defined, and duller in colour. Adults make repeated 'kik-yoik, kik-yik' sounds in flight (2).
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Habitat

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Red-breasted geese nest in tundra, and less often, in open parts of shrub tundra, where high and dry areas are favoured, such as steep river banks, rocky slopes, rocky crags and gullies. When not breeding, red breasted geese are found in steppe habitats, where they feed on agricultural land and drink from coastal lakes. During winter, red-breasted geese also roost on lakes, or in remote wetlands (8).
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Range

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Breeding on the Taimyr, Gydan and Yamal peninsulas of Russia, the majority of the population of red-breasted geese migrate through Bulgaria and Romania to the Black Sea for winter. Small numbers winter in Ukraine, or in Greece if it is particularly cold. Until the 1950s, most red-breasted geese wintered in Azerbaijan, but the habitat is no longer suitable (2).
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Status

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Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3). It is also listed on Appendices I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention) (4), Appendix II of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (5), Annex I of the EC Birds Directive (6), and Annex II of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (7).
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Threats

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Hunting in Bulgaria, as well as in Romania and Ukraine, is a threat for the red-breasted goose. Tourist trips for hunting are becoming more common in Ukraine, and birds are often shot at the breeding grounds in Russia. Additionally, climate change is expected to alter tundra habitats and thereby reduce breeding success. The use of rodenticides in the wintering grounds has also had a deleterious impact upon populations of the red-breasted goose (2) (8).
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Status in Egypt

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Red-breasted goose

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The red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis) is a brightly marked species of goose in the genus Branta from Eurasia. It is currently classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.[1]

Taxonomy and etymology

The red-breasted goose is sometimes placed in its own genus Rufibrenta but appears close enough to the brant goose (Branta bernicla) to make this unnecessary, despite its distinct appearance. Today all major authorities include the red-breasted goose in Branta. Genetic studies indicate that the red-breasted goose may be one the few known examples of hybrid speciation in birds, being the result of ancient interbreeding between the ancestral brant goose and white-cheeked goose (the latter being the ancestral species that later split into all today's Branta species, except the brant and red-breasted geese). This interbreeding appears to have happened at least 3.5 million years ago, with the lineage of the red-breasted goose following its own evolutionary path since then.[3]

Branta is a Latinised form of Old Norse Brandgás, "burnt (black) goose and ruficollis is from the Latin rufus "red" and collis "necked".[4]

Description

Red-breasted goose swimming
Branta ruficollis portrait.jpg

All the species of the genus Branta are distinguished by their dark sooty colour, relieved by white, and as a distinction from the grey geese of the genus Anser. Among the species from these two genera, the red-breasted goose is the smallest at 53–56 cm (21–22 in) in length.[5] This brightly marked species is unmistakable, but can be surprisingly difficult to find amongst brant geese. At long distances, the red of the breast tends to look dark.[6]

Distribution

The red-breasted goose breeds in Arctic Siberia, mainly on the Taymyr Peninsula, with smaller populations in the Gyda and Yamal peninsulas.[7] Most winter along the northwestern shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine (occasionally moving further southwest to Greece), but some winter in Azerbaijan.[7] It is a rare vagrant to Great Britain and other western European areas, where it is sometimes found with flocks of Brent or barnacle geese.[6] However, since it is common in captive wildfowl collections, escapees outside its usual range are fairly frequent.[8]

A large part of the population traditionally wintered in Kirov Bay in the Caspian Sea, but in the 1960s the area became unsuitable for the geese due to the agricultural change. Vineyards and cotton replaced the cereal crops used by the wintering geese. However, catastrophic population decline was avoided because they were able to alter their migration strategy and now winter in suitable habitats in Bulgaria and the Dobrogea region of Eastern Romania.[9]

Late Pleistocene remains of the species have been found in Bulgaria,[10] and it is featured on ancient Egyptian paintings, including the famous Meidum Geese.[11]

Behaviour

Front view
Eggs of red-breasted goose

Calls of red-breasted goose – ki-kui or ki-yik, shrill and staccato

The red-breasted goose often nests close to nests of birds of prey, such as snowy owls, peregrine falcons and rough-legged buzzards, which helps to protect this small goose from mammalian predators such as the Arctic fox.[5][6] The closer the goose's nest to the eyrie (bird of prey nest), the safer it is from predation.[12] Based on the size and how timid the geese are, they rely on the bird of prey for defense. It is extremely unusual for the bird of prey to attack, but is still possible. Additionally, the larger the colony the safer it is. This in turn positively influences the survival and reproductive success of the red-breasted goose. Aside from nesting close to birds of prey, red-breasted geese nest on islands on rivers which also protects them from land-based predators.[13] However, there is evidence that the red-breasted goose will prefer to nest near birds of prey over the choice of a river island.[14] In contrast to the birds of prey that offer the red-breasted goose protection from predators, which choose to place their nests in the open cliff side, this goose will create a cryptic nest hidden much better than the birds of prey nests.[14] A typical red-breasted goose colony is around 4 pairs depending on nest location, food abundance, and bird of prey density.[13] While incubating, the red-breasted goose stays within a 1.5 km (0.9 mi) range of its nest.[13] Male red-breasted goose tend to guard the nest of their young from a distance while the females generally hide on the nest.[14] The main predator for red-breasted geese eggs and goslings is the Taimyr Gull which have access to nests located on river islands.[13]

While wintering, the red-breasted goose feeds on grasses, leaves and seeds.[7] Since owl and buzzard populations fluctuate every few years, depending on lemming abundance, the only consistent protection from predators are river islands and the peregrine falcon.[13]

Conservation

Branta ruficollis.jpg

In autumn of 1997 the population was estimated to be around 88,000 individuals.[15] In the winter these numbers can shrink to around 70,000. The red-breasted goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The red-breasted goose is legally protected in many states, however hunting is still continued. The AEWA is monitoring the species and providing up to date information on the status of the species, its habitat, migrations, ecology, and conservation needs.[16] It was considered a Vulnerable species by the IUCN. Over 80% of the population roost during the winter at just five sites, with nearby feeding areas threatened by changes in land use. In addition, there has been a strong decline in numbers in the last decades. However, it is possible that this decline may have been exaggerated, as it is possible that some birds may winter at unknown sites. The species' winter distribution has already changed significantly since the 1960s when much of the population occurred along the western coast of the Caspian Sea, in Iran, and in Iraq. Some birds may now be wintering farther west as indicated by recorded counts of 2,000 birds in Hungary as of the winter of 2014, whereas counts previously only accounted for a few hundred. As it is not clear to what extent the known population fluctuates in this species—as in other Arctic geese—and given the worsening outlook for the species as a whole, the red-breasted goose was uplisted from a species of Least Concern to Endangered status in the 2007 IUCN Red List.[1][17] In 2015 it was relisted as Vulnerable.[1] There have been attempts to conserve the species, such as in 2005–2008, a Life-funded project in Romania was implemented so that the habitat quality of an important salt water lake used by the species was increased.[18] The Life Programme and AEWA hosted a workshop in February 2009 for the species that aimed to draft a new International Species Action Plan and report the results of the Life project.[16]

In 2011, Ornithologists from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB/BirdLife in Bulgaria) and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust enacted a project that would lead to a greater understanding of the red-breasted geese's migration patterns. Six red-breasted geese were branded and given miniature GPS transmitters. The red-breasted geese will now be tracked via satellite. Scientist and conservationists alike hope that learning about the geese's migration patterns will lead to proper conservation and more aggressive policies in the geese's territory. Some prior counts have revealed a more positive discovery, noting an increase in the geese's population. This led to a prediction which states there may be over a fifty percent increase in their population.

In February 2013, the Bulgarian court had overturned a decision which prohibited an energy wind project from continuing their work in an important winter site for the threatened red-breasted geese. The construction of wind turbines in the area not only threaten the geese by being an obstacle that they fly into. The area they are being constructed in will also deprive red-breasted geese of a critical feeding ground. As of now, an appeal had been sent to court to convince the court otherwise.

References

  1. ^ a b c d BirdLife International (2017) [amended version of 2017 assessment]. "Branta ruficollis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22679954A118577901. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22679954A118577901.en. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ^ Ottenburghs, J. (2018). "Exploring the hybrid speciation continuum in birds". Ecol. Evol. 8 (24): 13027–13034. doi:10.1002/ece3.4558. PMC 6308868. PMID 30619602.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 77, 341. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ a b Ogilvie, Malcolm; Young (2002). Wildfowl of the World. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-84330-328-2.
  6. ^ a b c Svensson, Lars (2009). Birds of Europe (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-691-14392-7.
  7. ^ a b c "Species factsheet: Branta ruficollis".
  8. ^ Birds of Dawlish Warren: Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  9. ^ Sutherland, W.J.; Crockford, N.J. (1993). "Factors affecting the feeding distribution of Red-breasted Geese Branta ruficollis wintering in Romania". Biological Conservation. 63: 61–65. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(93)90074-b.
  10. ^ Boev, Z. (1998). "Sur la presеnce de la bernache a cou roux Branta ruficollis (Pallas, 1769) au wurm en Bulgarie". Branta. 3: 18–19.
  11. ^ Rozenfeld, S. (2011). "The number of Red-Breasted Geese (Branta ruficollis) and Lesser White-fronted Geese (Anser erythropus) on the migration routes in 2010". Goose Bulletin. 12: 8–14. ISSN 1879-517X.
  12. ^ Quinn, John (April 2002). "Trading-off risks from predators and from aggressive hosts". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 51 (5): 455–460. doi:10.1007/s00265-002-0466-2. S2CID 42268732.
  13. ^ a b c d e Prop, Jouke; Quinn, John (2003). Constrained by available raptor hosts and islands: density-dependent reproductive success in red-breasted geese (102nd ed.). Oikos. p. 571.
  14. ^ a b c Quinn, John (2003). "Predator protection or similar habitat selection in red-breasted goose nesting associations: extremes along a continuum". Animal Behaviour. 65 (2): 297–307. doi:10.1006/anbe.2003.2063. S2CID 9127538.
  15. ^ Quinn, John (April 2000). "Direct and Indirect Estimates of Peregrine Falcon Population Size in Northern Eurasia". The Auk. 117 (2): 455. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2000)117[0455:DAIEOP]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 85873809.
  16. ^ a b "Red-breasted Goose | AEWA International Working Group". www.redbreastedgoose.aewa.info. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
  17. ^ "What's new (2007)". BirdLife International. 2007. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  18. ^ Raduescu, L (2013). "Conservation efforts for Red-breasted Goose in Romania". TWSG News - Bulletin of the Wetlands International - IUCN SSC Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group. 16: 7.

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Red-breasted goose: Brief Summary

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The red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis) is a brightly marked species of goose in the genus Branta from Eurasia. It is currently classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

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