Spring migration of Brent Geese wintering in Japan extends into Russian high arctic

Abstract

The spring migration routes of the Brent Goose Branta bernicla nigricans wintering in Japan can extend beyond those of earlier-published trajectories from satellite data (Shimada et al. 2016). This conclusion is based on a ring recovered from a goose shot by a hunter, found south of the Lena Delta in the Russian high arctic. Building on the previously published satellite-tracking data from the same population, we suggest that the geese migrate northward in Russia following an interior route along the Lena and Yana rivers after arriving at the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk from Japan during spring migration.