Breeding in northern Canada and wintering in south and west USA
and northern Mexico, this species has a long history of vagrancy to the UK, but until 2022 birds were dismissed
as escapes. This was not unlikely, since both they and the following species are widely kept in collections.
However the Canadian populations have enjoyed an upsurge of late, and as several records were accompanied by
correct "carrier" species, they have finally been accepted in category A. Whilst the left-hand bird is captive,
the other is a Norfolk record of a 1W bird, which further adds to its credentials. Like Snow Goose it does
occur in a blue phase, but they are very rare.
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