Barnacle goose were of the same nature as other birds. The question of the nature of barnacle geese also came up as a matter of Jewish dietary law in the Halakha, and Rabbeinu Tam (1100–71) determined that they were kosher (even if born of trees) and should be slaughtered following the normal prescriptions for birds. The mythical barnacle tree, believed in the Middle Ages to have barnacles that opened to reveal geese, may have a similar origin to the other legends already mentioned. Barnacle goose The barnacle goose ("Branta leucopsis") belongs to the genus "Branta" of black geese, which contains species with
Cackling goose populations may still be declining, especially of the subspecies "minima" and "leucopareia". Though the taxonomic distinctness of the Komandorski and Kuril Islands populations, which used to winter in Japan, is controversial, it is without doubt that they disappeared around 1929. The genus name "Branta" is a Latinised form of Old Norse "Brandgás", "burnt (black) goose", and the specific epithet "hutchinsii" commemorates English surgeon Thomas Hutchins who was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. The cackling goose was originally considered to be the same species or a subspecies of the Canada goose, but in July 2004 the American Ornithologists' Union's (AOU)