Brant goose

The brant or brent goose (Branta bernicla) is a species of goose of the genus Branta. The black brant is an American subspecies. The specific descriptor bernicla is from the same source as "barnacle" in barnacle goose, which is similar in appearance. The Brent System, a major oilfield, was named after the species.

Description

The brant goose is a small goose with a short, stubby bill. It measures 55–66 cm (22–26 in) long, 106–121 cm (42–48 in) across the wings and weighs 0.88–2.2 kg (1.9–4.9 lb). The under-tail is pure white, and the tail black and very short (the shortest of any goose).

The species is divided three subspecies:

Some DNA evidence suggests that these forms are genetically distinct; while a split into three separate species has been proposed, it is not widely accepted, with other evidence upholding their maintenance as a single species.

Brent

Brent is an Old English place name and surname. The place name can be from Celtic words meaning "holy one" (if it refers to the River Brent), or "high place", literally, "from a steep hill" (if it refers to the villages in Somerset and Devon, England) (Mills 1991). The surname often indicates that one's ancestors lived in a place called Brent.

Brent has also become a regularly used given name in some countries, being among the thousand most common names for boys born in the United States since 1933. When used as a given name today, Brent is sometimes a short form of Brenton, but this was probably not the original inspiration for Brent's use as a given name, since Brenton's own regular use as a first name came many years after Brent was established in that role.

References

Black brant

The black brant or Pacific brent goose (Branta bernicla nigricans) is a subspecies of the brant goose that breeds in Alaska and winters in Baja California. There are an estimated 115,000 black brant in the world and about 14,000 are taken each year by hunters. Fox predation of eggs is thought to be significant and, in 2006, the U.S. began a 5-year fox removal program. The population has been as high as 200,000 in 1981, and as low as 100,000 in 1987.

References