The occurrence and performance of leucistic Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis
The paper reports the occurrence of whitish ‘leucistic’ forms in populations of Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis. A total of 15 (including 11 in the last 21 years) have been reported in the population breeding in Svalbard and wintering in the Solway Firth, northern Britain, whereas the two other popu...
| Published in: | Ibis |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1992
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919x.1992.tb07224.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1474-919X.1992.tb07224.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1992.tb07224.x |
| Summary: | The paper reports the occurrence of whitish ‘leucistic’ forms in populations of Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis. A total of 15 (including 11 in the last 21 years) have been reported in the population breeding in Svalbard and wintering in the Solway Firth, northern Britain, whereas the two other populations, though much larger, have produced only one bird of the same type between them in the last 30 years. Leucism is controlled by a single, recessive allele. The median lifespan of leucistic birds is 2–3 years, compared to 8–10 years for normal plumaged birds. This is because they are sought out by (illegal) hunters. There is no evidence that there is any difference in pairing or breeding performance between white and normal birds, though one male, which is still alive aged 18 years, has produced 13 young; this performance is matched fay less than 2% of normal geese. It is suggested that the Svalbard population was established recently, from a few founders from the Siberian population; if one or two of these carried the allele controlling leucism, this would explain its much higher prevalence in this population than in the other discrete groups of Barnacle Geese. |
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