Threatened to least concern and after: the Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis in Latvia

Abstract

In Latvia, the Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis was, except for a period in the first half of the 19th century, reported to be rare or relatively rare from the late 18th century to about 2010. The marked change in conservation status from threatened in 1985 to least concern in 2000 was due to better knowledge about the situation at the Russian breeding grounds and had nothing to do with the occurrence in Latvia. Since the first flock ever of at least 100 individuals was observed in April 2007, the number of spring-staging birds has shown a steady increase. In 2021, numbers reached 5000 birds in the Svēte flood-plain staging area and more than 10 000 in the country as a whole. Numbers were lower in autumn. There are no recoveries or re-sightings of marked individuals indicating the origin of the staging birds. The increase in numbers in Latvia coincided with a marked decline in importance of the islands in the Baltic Sea for breeding and spring-staging Barnacle Geese.