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Bird

Canada Goose

Branta canadensis

Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 19 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 100 counties
Habitats
19

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 100 counties
Habitats
19
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 19

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 19

Floodplain and bottomland forests

fallen (uprooted) tree
SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large FloodplainNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

Freshwater marshes

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland SystemsRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70
SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach; Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Sandy Beach; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

SummerWinter

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

SummerWinter

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"
SummerWinterOnly within 500 m of water.Developed, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Disturbed, Non-specific; Ruderal Upland - Old FieldLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

Mountain balds

Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.

SummerWinterOnly within 500 m of water.

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

SummerWinterOnly within 500 m of water.Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine
Other habitats in its models (79)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (42)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
  • Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
  • Cumberland Riverscour Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Louisiana Beach Winter.
  • Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer and winter.
  • Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
  • Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
  • Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
  • Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
  • Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Upper Texas Coast Beach Winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
Northeast (3)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Midwest (5)
  • Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Great Lakes Dune Summer.
  • North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
Land cover and other classes (29)
  • Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Barren Land Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Developed, Medium Intensity Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
  • Recently Burned Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 100 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 217

Plant genera in its diet records (17)
  • Trifolium Leaves. 9 diet records. 2 native plants in North Carolina
  • Zea Seeds. 6 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Triticum Leaves and seeds. 5 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Medicago 4 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Glycine Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Helianthus Seeds. 2 diet records. 16 native plants in North Carolina
  • Sorghum Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Carex Leaves. 1 diet record. 148 native plants in North Carolina
  • Eleocharis Leaves. 1 diet record. 28 native plants in North Carolina
  • Equisetum Leaves. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
  • Phleum Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Plantago Roots. 1 diet record. 6 native plants in North Carolina
  • Poa Leaves. 1 diet record. 9 native plants in North Carolina
  • Setaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in North Carolina
  • Sparganium Leaves. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
  • Taraxacum Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Triglochin Roots. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in North Carolina

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Canada Goose uses many habitats in North Carolina; these are its 3 most characteristic.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 71

Plants 367

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in North Carolina

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 90

Plants 1314

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in North Carolina

Swamps

Birds 70

Plants 329

All of swamps in North Carolina

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources