Barnacle goose Barnacle goose The barnacle goose ("Branta leucopsis") belongs to the genus "Branta" of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey "Anser" species. Despite its superficial similarity to the brant goose, genetic analysis has shown it is an eastern derivative of the cackling goose lineage. The barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. "Branta" is a Latinised form of Old Norse "Brandgás", "burnt (black) goose" and the specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek "leukos" "white", and "opsis" "faced". The barnacle goose and the similar brant goose were previously
Chen (genus) recognizes this genus as distinct; most other authorities today consider it a subgenus of "Anser". Like grey but unlike the "Branta" black geese, their feet and legs are colored in reddish hues. The bill is also reddish in these birds as in most grey geese, except in adult males of Ross's goose which have a blue-black grainy cere. The wingtips are black, as in all true geese, whereas the head is always white without any markings or pattern in adult birds of this genus, which distinguishes them from all other true geese except feral domesticated geese. The rest of the