barnacle goose

American  

noun

1. a wild goose, Branta leucopsis, of northern Europe and Greenland.

---

barnacle goose British  

noun

1. a N European goose, Branta leucopsis , that has a black-and-white head and body and grey wings

2. a former name for brent goose

---

Etymology

Origin of barnacle goose

1760–70; earlier barnacle, Middle English bernacle; compare Middle French bernacle, New Latin bernacula, all derivative of earlier Middle English bernak, bernekke, Anglo-Latin bernaca, Old French bernaque, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Studies are being undertaken to try to establish the age of the dead birds in order to clarify the long-term impact on the barnacle goose colony.

From BBC • Jan. 10, 2022

A barnacle goose believed to be the oldest on record has been spotted on the Solway Firth.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2014

The Vegetable Lamb myth gave rise to an equally fantastical creature, the barnacle goose.

From Scientific American • Sep. 7, 2013

Unlike the Vegetable Lamb, the barnacle goose myth was based on a real animal, a European goose species, Branta leucopsis.

From Scientific American • Sep. 7, 2013

The species owes its name to the fabulous belief that it was the preliminary state of the barnacle goose of the Arctic regions, the filaments representing the plumage and the valves the wings.

From Tropic Days by Banfield, E. J. (Edmund James)