Snow Goose

"Watching huge flocks of Snow Geese swirl down from the sky, amid the cacophony of honking, is a little like standing inside a snow globe."

That is the first impression that the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology gives when describing Snow Geese. And so true that depiction is.

A Snow Goose is a medium-sized goose with a white body and black tipped wings. The thick bill is pink with a dark line along it, giving it a "smiling patch." In large flocks, you also may see a dark morph or "Blue Goose."

Snow Geese prefer to travel in the company of a couple of dozen other Snow Geese and can form flocks of several hundred thousand. They are found in agricultural fields, especially corn fields after harvest. Also look for them in lakes, ponds and marshes.

One year in mid-winter, we walked around Merrill Creek Reservoir, which was filled with Snow Geese. At one point, hundreds suddenly took off in our direction. The sound of their beating wings and honks skimmed across the water toward us as if amplified by a megaphone. It was an exciting experience that will always stay with us.

Snow Geese breed in northern Canada. Within three weeks of hatching, goslings may walk 50 miles to a more suitable brood-rearing area.

The geese feed on grasses, sedges, rushes, forms, horsetails, shrubs and willows. They consume any part of the plant: stems, seeds, leaves, tubers and roots. Food passes through their digestive tracts in only an hour or two, generating six to 15 droppings per hour. This rate is highest when they are feeding on high-fiber rhizomes as they always consume mud at the same time.

Nestlings are at risk from gulls, foxes, bears, Common Ravens and Snowy Owls. Adults may be hunted by eagles, foxes, wolves and bears, more so during the breeding season.

In wintering flocks that are feeding, lookouts keep an eye our for predators. When a threat is seen, they call out to the rest of the flock, which may take flight.