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.
Extremely adept at living in human-altered areas , Canada geese have established breeding colonies in urban and cultivated habitats, which provide food and few natural predators.
The success of this common park species has led to it often being considered a pest species 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 latter a result of humans disobeying artificial feeding policies toward wild animals. The Canada goose was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work Systema Naturae.
The cackling goose was originally considered to be the same species or several subspecies of the Canada goose, but in July , the American Ornithologists' Union 's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature split them into two species, making the cackling goose into a full species with the scientific name Branta hutchinsii. The British Ornithologists' Union followed suit in June The AOU has divided the many subspecies between the two species.
The subspecies of the Canada goose were listed as:. The distinctions between the two geese have led to confusion and debate among ornithologists. This has been aggravated by the overlap between the small types of Canada goose and larger types of cackling goose.
