A compact goose with a black neck, brownish back, and pale underparts. Adult "Atlantic" Brant has an incomplete white necklace and a pale belly that contrasts strongly with the black chest and neck.
A dark, compact goose with a short bill. Adult "Black" Brant shows a broad white necklace and extensive dark markings on the belly (creating an area of low contrast between the chest and the belly).
A compact goose with strongly contrasting white vent. The "Dark-bellied" Brant of Europe has a darker gray belly and bold white collar that appears intermediate between "Atlantic" Brant and "Black" Brant of North America.
"Gray-bellied" Brant is intermediate between "Black" Brant and "Atlantic" Brant. This population typically winters in coastal Washington state and appears like a blended version of the two named North American subspecies. This individual shows a reduced white necklace and paler underparts than "Black" Brant.
These geese often fly in densely packed flocks instead of well-organized lines or V-formations. In flight, note the large white "V" on the rump that contrasts with the dark upperparts.
Smaller and more compact than Canada Goose (right). Occasionally joins flocks of other geese when foraging on grass. Juvenile has a reduced white collar and crisp, pale edging to the upperpart feathers.
Adults have a black head, neck, and breast with variable white neck markings. They have, brown wings, white undertail, and pale flanks and belly that can vary from pale brown (in eastern North America) to blackish (in the West). Juveniles have pale fringes on the wing coverts and little or no white on the neck.
Brant spend most of the year in flocks. They forage by grazing or by swimming into shallow water and tipping forward to reach aquatic vegetation. Flocks form tight swarm-like groupings, less linear than skeins of Canada Geese. They give distinctive, grating calls that are often the first clue to their presence. On breeding grounds, they nest on the ground in small colonies near water.
Breeds in the Arctic on marshlands, islands, and tundra. Stops over in similar habitats to molt before migrating south. Winters on lagoons, estuaries, mudflats, and saltmarshes near sand spits, barrier beaches, and ocean shores.
In eastern North America, the Atlantic Brant has a mottled brown-and-white belly (subspecies hrota; known in the United Kingdom as Light-bellied Brent Goose). In the West, the much darker Black Brant (subspecies nigricans) is common. Birders around Puget Sound may also see a gray-bellied form, often called Gray-bellied Brant, which breeds only in the Parry Islands of northwestern Canada. Other subspecies occur in the species Old World range.