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Bird

Canada Goose

Branta canadensis

Lives in West Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 55 counties, across 9 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
9

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
9
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in West Virginia 9

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

1 of 9

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.

SummerWinterSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Ponds, lakes and their shores

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

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh)

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Cumberland Riverscour; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Wet meadows

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

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Mountain balds

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

SummerWinterOnly within 500 m of water.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

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

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 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.

SummerWinterOnly within 500 m of water.Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine
Other habitats in its models (101)

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

Elsewhere in the South (53)
  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • 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 Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin 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 Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and 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.
  • 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 and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer and winter.
  • 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 (5)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Sandy Beach 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 (38)
  • Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • 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.
  • Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems 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.
  • Open Water (Brackish/Salt) 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.
  • Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) 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 West Virginia

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 55 counties.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 17 of 55 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 213

Plant genera in its diet records (17)
  • Trifolium Leaves. 9 diet records. 3 native plants in West Virginia
  • Zea Seeds. 6 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Triticum Leaves and seeds. 5 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Medicago 4 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Glycine Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Helianthus Seeds. 2 diet records. 13 native plants in West Virginia
  • Sorghum Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Carex Leaves. 1 diet record. 161 native plants in West Virginia
  • Eleocharis Leaves. 1 diet record. 15 native plants in West Virginia
  • Equisetum Leaves. 1 diet record. 5 native plants in West Virginia
  • Phleum Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Plantago Roots. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in West Virginia
  • Poa Leaves. 1 diet record. 8 native plants in West Virginia
  • Setaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in West Virginia
  • Sparganium Leaves. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in West Virginia
  • Taraxacum Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Triglochin Roots. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in West 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 89

Plants 905

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in West Virginia

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 92

Plants 303

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in West Virginia

Streams, rivers and their banks

Birds 88

Plants 232

All of streams, rivers and their banks in West Virginia

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources