The rare barnacle goose in D.C., with Canada geese.

Michael Parr/American Bird Conservancy. / Michael Parr/American Bird Conservancy.

Call it 2020’s most exciting goose chase: A rare bird that typically nests on Arctic coasts has veered off its migration path and landed in Washington, gripping the local birding community. The barnacle goose – which has never before been reported in D.C. – was first spotted downtown on Thursday, a flabbergasting addition to the waterfowl circuit.

“I don’t think it’s a species that anybody predicted would show up in D.C.,” says Mike Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, a non-profit that focuses on preserving native birds. “It’s very unexpected. The D.C. birders have a sort of sweepstakes for which new species will be found in D. C., and I don’t believe the barnacle goose has ever been on that list. We never expected it to show up.”

Barnacle geese are similar to Canada geese, but smaller in size. They have a cream-white face and black neck, crown and chest, with an ash grey back and wings. The birds typically live on Arctic coasts stretching from northeastern Greenland to Siberia, and they winter in northwestern Europe. Occasionally, the water fowl go off course and end up in northeastern North America, propelled by strong winds or other quirks in the weather patterns, according to the D.C. Audubon Society.

This particular goose’s arrival sent local birders into a frenzy.

Parr was alerted to the bird’s surprising arrival on Thursday but unable to investigate until Friday. “I got down to Ohio Drive, and there was a big flock of Canada geese … I was very hopeful [I would see it],” he recalls. “I walked up and the first thing I saw was somebody shaking their head. Birders know what that means.”

Then he saw another onlooker break into a sprint. “Running is another signal – you know, you might want to pay attention.” Parr and his rapidly moving fellow bystander hopped into their cars and followed each other through the city, in the direction that the other man had seen the goose traveling. The chase led them over Memorial Bridge. “Of all the places for the barnacle goose to be, it was feeding in the middle of Memorial Circle,” he says. “Just the last place you’d expect to see a rare bird.”

There were sightings of the goose through Sunday, but it’s unclear whether it’s still in the area. It’s traveling with a flock of Canadian geese, Parr says, and has been seen around the Tidal Basin, Columbia Island, and Theodore Roosevelt Island.

Last week, Kari Cohen, the D.C. Audubon Society’s treasurer, received a listserv alert that a barnacle goose had been spotted at Hains Point. Within an hour, he had arrived on scene, and by the time he departed, a crowd of 20 spectators had amassed.

Cohen’s mother is from Finland, and he’s visited the country many times, observing barnacle geese in their natural habitat. But he hadn’t seen one in North America until D.C. welcomed its special out-of-towner. “It’s very exciting any time you get what we call a ‘first record’ – the first time a bird shows up somewhere,” he says. “Birders are like, ‘Hey, this is on my D.C. bird list, this is on my North America bird list.’ They want to go see it.”

Some local birding enthusiasts shared their goose-chase adventures on Twitter:

Even if the goose’s stay is short-lived, its appearance is a thrill, its fans agree. “It’s kind of a celebrity bird in the District,” Parr says. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and you never really know what’s gonna happen with birds. They can fly, and we can’t,” he says. “The barnacle goose should be on the other side of the Atlantic, so it’s quite a big deal that one would even be in the United States, let alone in the nation’s capital.”

Filed Under: barnacle goose, national park service,