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Bird

Canada Goose

Branta canadensis

Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 16 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 133 counties and cities
Habitats
16

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 133 counties and cities
Habitats
16
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 16

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

1 of 16

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. Shown: North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt), a neighboring state.Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

The Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405
SummerWinterAtlantic 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 SwampWilliam McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Chickahominy Swamp, VirginiaThe Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. 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 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 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

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

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 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.

SummerWinterAtlantic 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.

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

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

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

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)

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. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.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 (82)

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

Elsewhere in the South (45)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland 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.
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 (32)
  • Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Barren Land Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • 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 Virginia

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 4 of 133 counties and cities.

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 236

Plant genera in its diet records (17)
  • Trifolium Leaves. 9 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
  • Zea Seeds. 6 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Triticum Leaves and seeds. 5 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Medicago 4 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Glycine Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Helianthus Seeds. 2 diet records. 10 native plants in Virginia
  • Sorghum Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Carex Leaves. 1 diet record. 170 native plants in Virginia
  • Eleocharis Leaves. 1 diet record. 30 native plants in Virginia
  • Equisetum Leaves. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Virginia
  • Phleum Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Plantago Roots. 1 diet record. 5 native plants in Virginia
  • Poa Leaves. 1 diet record. 8 native plants in Virginia
  • Setaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
  • Sparganium Leaves. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Virginia
  • Taraxacum Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
  • Triglochin Roots. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Virginia

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Virginia, 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.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 96

Plants 1283

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Virginia

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 86

Plants 381

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Virginia

Swamps

Birds 82

Plants 318

All of swamps in Virginia

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources