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BTO Blueline
CANADA GOOSE
Branta canadensis
Canada Goose © Mike Weston
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: not listed (introduced)
Long-term trend
UK: rapid increase
UK population size
82,550 adults in 1999 (Rehfisch et al. 2002: APEP06); 88,866 adults in Britain in 2000 (Austin et al. 2007)
Status summary
Canada Geese have increased rapidly, at a rate estimated at 9.3% per annum in Britain between the 1988–91 Atlas period and 2000, with no sign of any slowing in the rate of increase (Austin et al. 2007). Most of this increase, amounting to 166% during that period, has been in areas previously with low goose densities. The WBS sample became large enough for annual monitoring in 1980, since when further, apparently accelerating, increase on linear waterways occurred during the 1990s. WBS results for recent seasons suggest little change in this habitat since 2004. Annual breeding-season monitoring in a wider range of habitats through BBS has shown similar strong increases in England and in the UK as a whole. Winter monitoring by WeBS shows a continuing long-term increase (Austin et al. 2008).
 

Population changes
WBS UK graph
 
Table of population changes for Canada Goose

Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
WBS waterways 25 1981-2006 30 90 -9 698    
  10 1996-2006 38 80 41 169    
  5 2001-2006 36 12 -7 46    
BBS UK 11 1995-2006 393 115 72 159    
  10 1996-2006 409 103 64 141    
  5 2001-2006 490 46 25 64    
BBS England 11 1995-2006 367 102 58 152    
  10 1996-2006 382 92 52 141    
  5 2001-2006 453 41 17 57    

BBS acknowledgement
 
BBS UK graph
BBS England graph
 

Productivity trends
Productivity information is not currently available for this species
 

Additional information
BTO blue divider
 

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G.,
Barimore, C., Grantham, M.J., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2009).
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2008.
BTO Research Report No. 516. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 18.02.2009