Canada goose
Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
The canada goose (Branta canadensis), also called the Greater Canada goose, is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a medium-sized, migratory, terrestrial herbivore of grassland, with an adult body mass of 2.8 kg (up to 5 kg) and a wingspan of 1.69 m.
Quick facts about the canada goose
It lays one clutch per year of 5.15 eggs, which are incubated for 28 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 2 years. Its lifespan is given as 27.4 years, with values up to 42 years, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 2.81 kg – 5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.69 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 27.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 42 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.15src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the canada goose?
Photos of the canada goose
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the canada goose live?
Not recorded
What is the canada goose?
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. It has been introduced to France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands. Like most geese, the Canada goose is primarily herbivorous and normally migratory; often found on or close to fresh water, the Canada goose is also common in brackish marshes, estuaries, and lagoons.
Adept at living in human-altered areas, Canada geese have established breeding colonies in urban and cultivated habitats, which provide food and have few natural predators. The success of this common park species has led to it often being considered a pest species. This is 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 last is a result of humans not following artificial feeding policies toward wild animals.
From the Wikipedia article “Canada goose” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canada_goose&oldid=1384592516), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the canada goose sound like?
Is the canada goose endangered?
The canada goose is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the canada goose classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusBranta
- SpeciesBranta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Anser canadensis, Branta canadensis akimiskiae, Branta canadensis albertae, Branta canadensis andersoni, Branta canadensis anticostiae, Branta canadensis assiniboineae, Branta canadensis athabascae, Branta canadensis auduboni, Branta canadensis bartletti, Branta canadensis basinensis, Branta canadensis belcheri, Branta canadensis blancheti, Branta canadensis bostocki, Branta canadensis brevirostra, Branta canadensis bridgeri, Branta canadensis brunnescens, Branta canadensis californica, Branta canadensis charltonensis, Branta canadensis chipewyanensis, Branta canadensis churchillensis, Branta canadensis clarki, Branta canadensis columbiana, Branta canadensis costalama, Branta canadensis creeorum, Branta canadensis curriei, Branta canadensis dawsoni, Branta canadensis deltensis, Branta canadensis eirikssoni, Branta canadensis fidleri, Branta canadensis grinnelli, Branta canadensis haydeni, Branta canadensis hendayi, Branta canadensis hoodi, Branta canadensis hudsonica, Branta canadensis hunti, Branta canadensis hustichi, Branta canadensis idahoensis, Branta canadensis ingstadi, Branta canadensis jamesi, Branta canadensis jeffersoni, Branta canadensis kazanensis, Branta canadensis kelseyi, Branta canadensis kinojeae, Branta canadensis labradorensis, Branta canadensis lahontanensis, Branta canadensis lakotae, Branta canadensis lewisi, Branta canadensis lumsdeni, Branta canadensis manitobensis, Branta canadensis maritima, Branta canadensis nevadensis, Branta canadensis okanaganensis, Branta canadensis ontarioensis, Branta canadensis oregonensis, Branta canadensis pendoreillensis, Branta canadensis pondi, Branta canadensis powelli, Branta canadensis preblei, Branta canadensis presti, Branta canadensis pugetensis, Branta canadensis roosevelti, Branta canadensis salmonensis, Branta canadensis saskatchewanensis, Branta canadensis selwyni, Branta canadensis siksikorum, Branta canadensis soperi, Branta canadensis subarctica, Branta canadensis suttoni, Branta canadensis tanneri, Branta canadensis tetonensis, Branta canadensis washingtonensis, Branta canadensis wisei, Branta canadensis yakimensis, Branta canadensis yukonensis
Other names and names in other languages (95)
- Greater Canada gooseEnglish
- Kanadese gansAfrikaans
- إوز كنديArabic
- إوزة كنديةArabic
- nenebiihi' nei'iiArapaho
- gansu canadianuAsturian
- Gansu CanadienseAsturian
- Казарка канадскаяBelarusian
- Канадска гъскаBulgarian
- áápsspiniSiksiká
- Garreli-KanadaBreton
- oca del CanadàCatalan
- ᏌᏌCherokee
- Héna'eCheyenne
- ᓂᔅᒃCree
- NiskaCree
- berneška velkáCzech
- gwydd CanadaWelsh
- Gŵydd CanadaWelsh
- Gwyddau CanadaWelsh
- CanadagåsDanish
- KanadagansGerman
- Καναδική χήναGreek
- Καναδέζικη ΧήναGreek
- kanada anseroEsperanto
- Kanada bernikloEsperanto
- Ganso canadienseSpanish
- barnacla CanadienseSpanish
- Barnacla canadiense grandeSpanish
- Ganso Canadiense MayorSpanish
- kanada lagleEstonian
- Branta kanadarraBasque
- kanadanhanhiFinnish
- KanadahanhiFinnish
- Øshvít gásFaroese
- outardeFrench
- Bernache du CanadaFrench
- KanadagusNorthern Frisian
- Gé cheanadachIrish
- giadhScottish Gaelic
- Gèadh ChanadaScottish Gaelic
- gèadh dubhScottish Gaelic
- geòidh dhubhaScottish Gaelic
- Guiy CanadaghManx
- Zwa KanadaHaitian Creole
- ברנטהHebrew
- אווז קנדיHebrew
- ברנטה קנדיתHebrew
- kanadai lúdHungarian
- IqsraġutilikInupiaq
- KanadagæsIcelandic
- Oca canadeseItalian
- oca del CanadaItalian
- カナダガンJapanese
- NerlernaarsukKalaallisut
- Канада қарашақазыKazakh
- 캐나다기러기Korean
- 큰캐나다기러기Korean
- Goth CanadaCornish
- KanadagänsLuxembourgish
- k̓ʷsixʷLillooet
- Kanadinė berniklėLithuanian
- Kanādas zossLatvian
- KuihiMāori
- sinumkwMi'kmaw
- Angsa KanadaMalay
- ha·diqmyh
- Naalʼeełítsoh bitsiiʼ halzhinígííNavajo
- canadese gansDutch
- grote Canadese gansDutch
- NikaOjibwa
- wawaOjibwa
- bernikla kanadyjskaPolish
- Ganso do CanadáPortuguese
- ganso-do-canadáPortuguese
- Auca da CanadaRomansh
- Gâsca canadianăRomanian
- Gâscă canadianăRomanian
- канадская казаркаRussian
- KanádačuonjáNorthern Sami
- bernikla veľkáSlovak
- Bernikľa veľkáSlovak
- Kanadska gosSlovenian
- Канадска ГускаSerbian
- Kanadska guskaSerbian
- KanadagåsSwedish
- கனடா வாத்துTamil
- ห่านแคนาดาThai
- Kanada kazıTurkish
- Казарка канадськаUkrainian
- Канадська казаркаUkrainian
- Ngỗng CanadaVietnamese
- Wawpatuckewam
- 加拿大雁Chinese
- 加拿大黑雁Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the canada goose
Other species in the same genus Branta.
Barnacle goose
Branta leucopsis
Red-breasted goose
Branta ruficollis
Brant
Branta bernicla
Nene
Branta sandvicensis
Cackling goose
Branta hutchinsii
CompareCanada goose vs Barnacle gooseCanada goose vs Red-breasted gooseCanada goose vs BrantCanada goose vs Nene
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the canada goose?
The canada goose is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, part of the family Anatidae and the order Anseriformes.
How heavy is a canada goose?
An adult Canada goose weighs 2.8 kg, with values up to 5 kg reported. Its wingspan is 1.69 m.
What does the canada goose eat?
The canada goose is a herbivore.
What habitat does the canada goose live in?
The canada goose lives in grassland and is a terrestrial, migratory bird.
Is the canada goose endangered?
No. The canada goose is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a canada goose live?
The lifespan of the canada goose is given as 27.4 years, with values up to 42 years reported.
How many eggs does a canada goose lay?
The canada goose lays 5.15 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 28 days.
Who named the canada goose?
The canada goose, Branta canadensis, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Canada goose (Branta canadensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/canada-goose
“Canada goose (Branta canadensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/canada-goose.
@misc{canada_goose_2026,
title = {Canada goose (Branta canadensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/canada-goose},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}