Canada geese
© press service of Kenozersky National Park

Canada geese fly to Kenozersky National Park

In May, a couple of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) were spotted in Kenozersky National Park on the ice on Kenozero Lake near the village of Vershinino, according to the park's press service.

"The appearance in Kenozero region of a bird which is rare in Russia is extremely interesting for ornithologists. Seeing Canada geese in the spring gives hope that they may be nesting here," the report reads.

In the second half of the 20th century, Canada geese acclimated to the British Islands, Norway, Sweden, to several regions in southern Finland and even to New Zealand. Birds of the main subspecies, Atlantic Canada goose (B.c.canadensis) were occasionally seen among flocks of swans on water bodies in the northwest of Russia. In the 1990s, isolated cases of nesting Canada geese were recorded on the islands of the Gulf of Finland and Ladoga Lake. Russia has also been a habitat for the Aleutian Canada goose (Branta canadensis leucopareia) which is included in the Red Data Book of Russia. The subspecies is endemic to Komandorskiye Islands.