Goose vs. Brant

The ink sketch of the profile of a brant goose.  The short beak is white, a portion of the head and most of the neck is black.  Surrounding the sketch are handwritten words of Lewis’s journal entry for that day, March 15, 1806.

“Do you know the difference between a goose and a brant?”

In North America, we’re most familiar with the ubiquitous Canada goose (Branta canadensis) – the large species with long necks, black face and necks, white cheeks, and brown bodies.

But in March 1806, William Clark and Meriwether Lewis both wrote significantly about brants -- specifically about the Black brant. In addition to writing lengthy descriptions, both men included sketches of the head of the bird. The Black, Dark-bellied, and Pale-bellied brants make up the genus Branta bernicla, a small goose with a short, stubby bill and short neck. All three subspecies winter along temperate-zone sea coasts and breed on high-Artic tundra.

The Black brant, which Lewis and Clark observed around Fort Clatsop, is a very contrastingly black and white bird. Strictly a coastal bird in winter, they rarely leave tidal estuaries, feeding on eelgrass, seaweed, or sea lettuce. They grow to weigh between 2 and 5 pounds (about 25% of a Canada goose).