Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
A large goose, with a distinctive black head and neck and large white throat patch.
A familiar goose seen around lakes, gravel pits and town parks.
All year round. In winter, occasional birds of small races are seen with other wild geese species in Northern Ireland and Western Scotland, and may be vagrant wild birds.
An introduced species from North America, it has successfully spread to cover most of the UK. It forms noisy flocks and is often regarded as a nuisance in areas where large numbers occur on amenity grassland and parks.
Widespread and common in Britain
Common in Leicestershire and Rutland, and fairly common as a breeding bird in the area.
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
Enter a town or village to see local records
MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020
UK Map
Species profile
- Common names
- Greater Canada Goose, Canada Goose
- Species group:
- Birds
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Anseriformes
- Family:
- Anatidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 2196
- First record:
- 20/03/1994 (Ian Retson)
- Last record:
- 07/02/2025 (Jones, Dick)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.