Lesser Snow Goose
(Anser caerulescens)
by Forrest B. Lee, Terry A. Messmer, Richard
D. Crawford, Ronald A. Stromstad and Dennis
G. Jorde
Photos by Ed Bry
Description
The lesser snow goose and the blue goose are color phases of the same species,
and both are called snow geese.
Adult snow geese (white phase) are white with black wing tips (primaries)
and the young of the year are dusky white. Sometimes the head and breast
is stained a rusty color. The adult snow goose has a light red bill. Feet
and legs are pinkish red.
Adult blue geese (blue phase) have a white head and neck and a grayish brown
body. Wings are a slate blue marked with black. Bill and feet are pinkish.
Young blue geese usually have a dusky head and an overall dark appearance.
Average weights in fall range from about 4 pounds for immature females to
6 pounds for adult males. These geese have a black area along the edge of
the bill where the upper and lower mandibles meet. This is called the "grinning"
patch.
Life History
The lesser snow goose breeds from Baffin Island and Southamptom Island in
the arctic regions of eastcentral Canada westward to the Arctic Coast of
Alaska. It winters west of the Mississippi River on the coasts of Louisiana,
Texas and Mexico and in the Central Valley of California.
These geese nest in colonies with many pairs occupying quite small areas.
The nest is a depression lined with down from the breast of the female,
and
the usual clutch size is five or six eggs. The young hatch after from 22
to 25 days incubation. The downy gosling young of the blue phase is very
dark, having a blackish head and back and a generally dusky appearance.
The downy gosling of the white phase is yellowish.
While lesser snow geese reach sexual maturity by the age of two years, the
majority begin nesting in their third year and some in their fourth year.
Territories are vigorously defended. Breeding so far north requires that
nesting begin as soon as the adults reach the breeding grounds. The nesting
season is so short that renesting is not possible; hence, if a nest is destroyed
no young are produced by the pair that year. A late spring snowstorm can
wipe out a large percentage of nesting attempts for an entire year. The
young grow rapidly, partly because of the long days available for feeding.
Habitat and Food
In the far north breeding areas, lesser snow goose nesting colonies are
usually located in low grassy tundra plains near broad shallow rivers, and
on islands in shallow lakes. During migration these geese often use large
marshes and lakes for loafing and protection and fly out to nearby agricultural
areas to feed.
The food of lesser snow geese is largely vegetable. During spring and fall
migration they land in fields of grasses and sprouting grains and graze
much like domestic geese. They also glean stubble fields for fallen grain,
and eat the underground parts of aquatic plants.
On the breeding and wintering grounds they feed on grasses, sedges and other
plants. The sharp toothlike edges of the mandibles are adapted for clipping
the rootstalks of aquatic plants on the Louisiana marshes and other coastal
wintering areas.
North Dakota Populations
Large numbers of lesser snow geese migrate through North Dakota in spring
and fall. The main migration route is through central and eastern counties
but flocks may be seen over much of the state. In fall, where refuges are
available, the geese may stay and fly out to feed for several days before
flying south. The snow goose is an important game bird in North Dakota,
but it is also a beautiful and spectacular bird that is enjoyed by bird
watchers and others who are happy just hearing and seeing it.
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