Snow goose (Chen caerulescens)
Snow geese are migrants, nesting on the Arctic tundra and flying as far south as Texas and Mexico when winter returns. Mating occurs during the long migration back to the tundra.
What do they sound like?
Watch video clips from past programmes (3 clips)
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Snow goose fly by
Frozen Planet
John Aitchison watches thousands of geese as they fly over Hudson Bay, heading south for the winter.
John Aitchison watches thousands of geese as they fly over Hudson Bay, heading south for the winter.
Fox fight
Realms of the Russian Bear
Snow geese fight off hungry arctic foxes in Siberia.
Snow geese fight off hungry arctic foxes in Siberia.
Snow goose migration
Planet Earth
Over half a million geese in one of the largest nesting wildfowl colonies ever filmed.
Over half a million geese in one of the largest nesting wildfowl colonies ever filmed.
Featured in the following TV programmes
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Archived
Frozen Planet
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Archived
Planet Earth: Great Plains
David Attenborough looks at the world's great plains.
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Archived
Realms of the Russian Bear: The Arctic Frontier
The Arctic tundra bursts into life in summer, a bounty of flowers, birds & grazing herds.
About the Snow goose
The Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens), also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed. The American Ornithologists' Union and BirdLife International place this species and the other "white" geese in the Chen genus, while other authorities place it in the more traditional "grey" goose genus Anser.
This goose breeds north of the timberline in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern tip of Siberia, and winters in warm parts of North America from southwestern British Columbia through parts of the United States to Mexico. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, but a frequent escape from collections and an occasional feral breeder. Snow Geese are visitors to the British Isles where they are seen regularly among flocks of Barnacle, Brent and Greenland White-fronted geese. There is also a feral population in Scotland from which many vagrant birds in Britain seem to derive.
In Central America, vagrants are frequently encountered during winter.
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Common Names
Blue Goose
The Snow goose is
- Adapted to flying
- Colonial
- Egg layer
- Herbivorous
- Monogamous
- Polymorphic
- Precocial
- Social
- Territorial
Adaptation data provided by Animal Diversity Web
Where can I see them?
Conservation Status
The Snow goose is Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
- EX - Extinct
- EW
- CR - Threatened
- EN - Threatened
- VU - Threatened
- NT
- LC - Least concern
Year assessed: 2009
Elsewhere on the web
- Animal Diversity Web (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- Audubon fact file (web1.audubon.org)
- Bird Guides: fact file and sightings (birdguides.com)
- Birdlife International: fact sheet (birdlife.org)
- Snow Goose (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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