Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii
Vagrant. North America. First record at East Halton, 2023. In addition to those believed to be wild birds, occasional escapes from captivity occur.
Cackling Geese breed locally in Aleutian Islands, and in the tundra zone of west and north coastal Alaska (USA) and northern Canada. Winters in USA and Mexico in three distinct zones: Washington to northern California; New Mexico and north-west Texas; Texas Gulf coast to NE Mexico.
The BOU added Cackling Goose to the British list in March 2016, on the list on the basis of a bird seen at Plex Moss, Lancashire, in November 1976. It is generally accepted that the species is a rare but regular vagrant to the UK, found primarily among Barnacle Geese in north-west Scotland and western Ireland, but occasionally also with other species such as Pink-footed Geese. Most birds appear to be of the subspecies hutchinsii, though convincing candidates for minima (‘Small Cackling Goose) and taverneri (Taverner’s Cackling Goose) have also been documented. There have been around 75 records up to and including 2023.
| Site | First date | Last date | Count | Notes |
| East Halton Skitter | 15/10/2023 | - | 1 | 2CY+, accepted BBRC, British Birds 117: 661-736. |
Finder’s report: Cackling Goose, October 15th, 2023, East Halton: first county record.
by Mike Pilsworth
Description
Numbers of pink-footed geese around the Humber estuary have been increasing in recent years from peaks of around 10,000 ten years ago. The co-ordinated count new massive record count of just over 60,000 on the 14th and 15th October. With several records of smaller Canada geese being recorded in nearby areas such as Lancashire and Norfolk it was almost inevitable that a small Canada goose was going to be found in such a large number of pinks at some point although getting decent views of these wary flocks is very difficult.
On the afternoon of the 15th of October myself and my wife Lindsey travelled over to East Halton in the hope that we might see the Baird’s sandpiper that had been present, when we arrived it was obvious that the bird hadn’t been seen as group of birders weren’t looking in any particular direction. So rather than go and ‘chew the fat’ we decided to have a look elsewhere for the sandpiper and see if we could get a good look at the 8000 or so Pink feet that were feeding in the adjacent stubble fields.
After checking a thousand pinks we pulled up by a gap a hedge on the road up towards East Halton Skitter, there were over 300 pinks near the road. Lifting my bins I was surprised to almost immediately pick up a Canada type goose almost immediately at about 150 metres range, it was only about size of the pink footed geese, rather dark and with a small stubby bill.
I alerted Lindsey to the bird explaining that it was likely to be one of the vagrant Canada goose races, but I couldn’t remember the names or identification features, but from size etc I thought it was one of the rarer ones Lindsey soon got on the bird and agreed it looked a lot smaller I quickly got my bridge camera from back sea and took a few photos with my bridge camera, unfortunately my scope was in the car boot and I knew if we tried to get it the geese would be flushed. After taking a few photos I posted one on social media with comment “interesting small dark Canada with pinks at East Halton”; very quickly Tom Lowe got back to be saying looks good for Cackling Goose. Myself and Lindsey watched the bird for approximately 10 minutes before majority of geese took flight with flocks moving in several directions and we were unsure as to where the cackler had done.
Size and structure
An obviously small goose slightly smaller than the accompanying pink-footed geese. I would estimate it to be around 80-90% size of the average accompanying Pink-footed Geese.
Neck
During the majority of the time, we were watching the bird it was relaxed when its neck appeared quite short and rather thick, although not as thick as the Pink-Footed Geese. When the bird was alert with neck outstretched neck was still slightly shorter than majority of the Pink-Footed Geese, although it was noticeably thinner. When viewed from behind, the neck appeared noticeably thinner than in side profile. The accompanying photos hopefully show the variations in this feature.
Head and bill.
Bill was noticeably short I would estimate that it was shorter than average pink foot bill and length of the bill was only slightly greater than the depth of the bill.
Forehead
Quite steep with a distinctly flat crown. The combination of short bill and high forehead created quite a distinct look to the bird.
(Account prepared December 2024)