Bird

Canada Goose

Branta canadensis

Names as given by USGS GAP.

Year-round and winter in Virginia, breeding, in the USGS range maps. Its habitat models include 16 habitats found here.

Seasons here: Year-round and winter
Breeding: Breeding
Range: 133 of 133 counties
Habitats: 16

Male Canada Goose, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Irina Mitine, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 624330364. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Seasons in Virginia: Year-round and winter
Breeding: Breeding
Counties in known range: 133 of 133
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

Southeast habitat models (USGS, 2001 land cover). The bird is not in every place a habitat occurs. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models Summer model Winter model

Habitats in Virginia 16

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. Shared habitat, not food.

1 of 16

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach; Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Sandy Beach; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandDune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and BaygallDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Summer and winterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt MarshBrackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

Summer and winterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

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.

Summer and winter

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.

Summer and winterAtlantic 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.

Summer and winter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Summer and winterAtlantic 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 Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Freshwater tidal marshes

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

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Mountain bogs and fens

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

Summer and winter

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.

Summer and winterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Summer and winter. Only within 500 m of waterGrassy mountain bald with shrub islands. Shown: Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, Swain County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020, Andrea Walton / Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Summer and winter. Only within 500 m of waterDeveloped, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Disturbed, Non-specific; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

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.

Summer and winter. Only within 500 m of waterEvergreen Plantation or Managed Pine

Other habitats in its models (82)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

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