By Eduardo Palacios and Antonieta Valenzuela

• The Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) is a goose that travels long distances to spend the winter and spring almost exclusively in the west coast of the United States and northwestern Mexico, mainly in Baja California.
• Nearly 85% of the Black Brant population winters in four coastal lagoons of Baja California and Baja California Sur: San Quintín Bay, Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, San Ignacio Lagoon and Magdalena Bay.

• A part of the population also winters along the west coast of Mexico, from the Colorado River Delta in Sonora to Santa María Bay in Sinaloa.
• The Black Brant is a priority migratory species classified as a threatened species, it’s legally protected in Mexico under the Official Mexican Standard NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010.
• In the fall, Black Brants arrive at their wintering grounds after migrating from their staging areas in Izembek Lagoon, Alaska.

• This migratory bird spends the winter and spring in traditional coastal lagoons on the Pacific coast of US and northwestern Mexico.
• Black Brants depend on eelgrass (Zostera marina) as their primary food source.
• In early 2016, a population of 72,390 Black Brants wintering in northwestern Mexico was estimated. This number represents 46% of the total population in western North America, which is about 159,000 birds.
• In Baja California 55,066 Black Brants were counted, including 19,694 estimated in the San Quintín Bay and only 317 in Punta Banda, Ensenada.

Credits

• Illustration: Louise Aceves.
• Graphic Design: Paty Viramontes and Blank Design.

References

• De la Cerda, J, & Simancas, J. (2016). Realiza branta negra un viaje asombroso. Todos CICESE. Retrieved from http://todos.cicese.mx/sitio/noticia.php?t=texto&stat=Cv&n=862#.WA-7BeB97IU 
• Kaufman, K. (2005). Guía de campo a las aves de Norteamérica. Nueva York: Houghton Mifflin.
• Martínez, I., Carmona, R., Ward, D.H., & Danemann, G. (2016). Patrones de uso de sitios naturales y artificiales por Branta bernicla nigricans (Anseriformes: Anatidae) en Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, México. Retrieved from http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442013000300033
• Palacios, E. (2016). Black Brant count in Baja California. Terra Stories. Retrieved from http://terrapeninsular.org/en/black-brant-population-count-baja-california/ 
• Sibley, D.A. (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. Nueva York: Alfred A. Knopf.
• The Globe of Bird Migration (n.d.) Retrieved from http://globeofbirdmigration.com/