cover (Barry 1966 In Bellrose 1976). The great majority of those nesting on 

 Southhampton Island are on low sites within a mile of shore or high tide. They 

 often nest on flotsammed sea wrack and kelp driven ashore by storms (Palmer 

 1976a). 



Feeding Ogilvie (1978) indicated that the principal feeding habitat of 

 Brant is estuarine mudflats and sheltered seacoasts. They also graze in salt- 

 marshes and have been reported grazing on habitats as diverse as athletic fields 

 and airports (Palmer 1976a). Fields of grass and winter wheat have also been 

 used by foraging Brant in Europe (Cramp et al. 1977, Ogilvie 1978), and field 

 feeding has been noted in North America as well (Bellrose 1976). Brant also 

 frequent gravel bars and spits to ingest grit (Palmer 1976a). 



Winter and Offshore Along the Atlantic coast, Brant winter on shallow 

 flats on salty coastal bays, particularly along the barrier-beach side of bays 

 (Johnsgard 1975). They sometimes occur in areas of brackish water, but concen- 

 trate in salt-water shallows where sea lettuce ( Ulva ) , eelgrass ( Zostera ) , or 

 wigeon grass ( Ruppia maritima ) grow. Those wintering along the Pacific coast 

 prefer large shallow areas, usually bays, covered with eelgrass ( Zostera ) 

 (Johnsgard 1975). 



FOOD AND FEEDING BEHAVIOR 



Feeding Brant are principally grazers that uproot the entire plant, eat the 

 roots and lower stems, and discard the fronds; the latter are eaten later on the 

 incoming tide, when dabbling is impossible (Oberholser 1974). When feeding in 

 shallow areas with much eelgrass ( Zostera spp.), such as Izembeck Bay, Alaska, 

 these Brant may graze, tip up like puddle ducks, or submerge their heads and 

 necks to pluck vegetation (Ogilvie 1978). With the loss of eelgrass in the 

 1930's, Brant began feeding in fields. In these areas, they feed in flocks much 

 more compact than those formed by birds feeding on mudflats (Ogilvie 1978). In 

 Britain, these geese have also been seen "pattering" on mud with their feet to 

 bring worms to the surface; in a number of areas they have also been recorded 

 "trampling" to obtain rhizomes of eelgrass. Brant also seize plants brought to 

 the surface by diving ducks (Palmer 1976a). 



Brant feed largely by day (Palmer 1976a) but will also feed by moonlight 

 (Cramp et al. 1977). Feeding inshore is closely related to the tidal cycle. 

 Birds forage on mudflats during low tide (Palmer 1976a) and often rest at sea 

 during high tide. The number of feeding peaks is dependent on the number of low 

 tides occurring during the day (Ogilvie 1978). 



The diet of Brant is almost entirely vegetable (Palmer 1976a); the small 

 amounts of animal food reported are apparently ingested only by accident (Ogil- 

 vie 1978). Eelgrass ( Zostera spp.) is usually the primary food, when available. 

 In the western Atlantic, Zostera marina is the species eaten; Zostera marina and 

 Z. nana are the most important species in Europe (Palmer 1976a). An alga, sea 

 lettuce, ( Ulva spp.) is also an important food in both the New World (U. lactua ; 

 Palmer 1976a) and in the Old (both U. lactua and _U. latissima ; Cramp et al. 

 1977). Widgeongrass is an important food for Brant wintering off the western 

 Atlantic coast. Other plants important in the diet in one area or another in- 



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