Animal
Snow goose
The snow goose is a white goose with black wingtips and a pink beak. It lays its eggs in the Arctic. Big flocks fly south for the winter.
The snow goose nests on Arctic tundra in Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Wrangel Island in Russia, and spends the winter in the United States and Mexico. Most are white with black wingtips, but some, called blue geese, have gray bodies. Snow geese travel in huge flocks, and in 2008 the US Fish and Wildlife Service said there were so many that they had damaged parts of their tundra nesting grounds.
Anser caerulescens (formerly placed in Chen) breeds on Arctic tundra and winters in North America, with white and dark ('blue') color morphs. BirdLife International assessed it as Least Concern for the IUCN Red List (assessed 12 November 2020, published 2021): its numbers are increasing despite widespread hunting, with about 15 million mature birds (Partners in Flight 2020).
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the snow goose
The snow goose is a white goose. The tips of its wings are black.
Its beak and legs are pink.
Most snow geese are white with black wingtips and a pink-orange beak and legs. Some are a darker color: these 'blue geese' have a gray body and wings and a white head. For a long time people thought blue geese were a different kind of goose, but they are snow geese of a different color, and the two colors pair up together.
A snow goose is about 64 to 79 centimeters long, with wings about 1.3 to 1.7 meters across. It weighs about 1.6 to 3 kilograms. Males and females look alike, but males are a little larger.
Anser caerulescens belongs to the duck, goose and swan family, Anatidae; it was previously placed in the genus Chen (IUCN). Audubon describes a white adult with black wingtips and a pink-orange bill and legs, a grayer immature, and a dark 'blue goose' morph with gray body and wings and a white head. The blue goose, long treated as a separate species, is a color morph of the smaller race, the lesser snow goose; the two morphs mate with each other and can produce young of either or both colors. A larger race, the greater snow goose, nests in far eastern Canada and winters on the Atlantic coast.
Audubon gives a length of 64 to 79 centimeters, a wingspan of 1.3 to 1.7 meters and a weight of 1.6 to 3 kilograms; the sexes look alike, and males are slightly larger.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.64 to 0.79 m
- Wingspan
- 1.3 to 1.7 m
- Weight
- 1.6 to 3 kg
From tundra to farm fields
In summer, snow geese live in the cold Arctic.
In winter they fly south to marshes and fields.
In summer, snow geese nest on Arctic tundra in northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland, and on Wrangel Island off far-eastern Russia. They usually nest close to the coast, near lakes or rivers.
In fall they fly south to spend the winter in the United States and Mexico. There they feed in coastal and freshwater marshes, estuaries and farm fields. Snow geese are very local: where they live there can be huge numbers, and elsewhere none at all.
The IUCN lists breeding in Greenland and eastern Asian Russia, the species year-round in Canada and the United States, and non-breeding in Mexico, from sea level to 2,500 meters; it also lists small introduced populations in Norway and the United Kingdom. The Arctic Goose Joint Venture describes Western Arctic and Wrangel Island populations of lesser snow geese, the latter breeding on Wrangel Island.
Audubon describes summer habitat as Arctic tundra, usually within 5 miles (8 km) of the coast near lakes or rivers, and migration and winter habitat as coastal marshes, estuaries, freshwater marshes and farmland; greater snow geese often nest on higher, drier tundra and in migration and winter are more often in saltwater habitats. The IUCN's habitat notes, which cover only the European part of the range, describe low, grassy tundra, generally close to ponds, shallow lakes or river deltas, or stony ground.
Continents
Where can you find this animal?
- Brought here by people · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
- Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Brought here by people · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Norway and the United Kingdom, where the IUCN lists small introduced populations.
Places: Norway and UK.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Arctic tundra where snow geese nest, in northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and on Wrangel Island in far-eastern Russia, and the marshes, estuaries and farm fields of Canada and the United States where they stop and spend the winter. Snow geese live in only parts of these countries.
Places: Canada, Greenland, Russia and United States.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, Mexico, Norway, Denmark and 42 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Mexico, where the IUCN lists snow geese only outside the breeding season.
Places: Mexico.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Grazing and grubbing
Snow geese eat plants: grass, roots and seeds.
In winter they eat leftover grain in fields.
Snow geese eat almost only plants. They eat the seeds, leaves and roots of wild grasses, sedges, bulrushes and horsetails. In fall they may eat lots of berries, and in winter big flocks feed on grain left behind in farm fields.
They feed by walking in shallow water or on land, usually in flocks. Very young goslings may also eat insect larvae.
Audubon describes a diet of almost entirely plant material: seeds, leaves and roots of many wild grasses, sedges, bulrushes, horsetail and others, many berries in fall, and waste grain in agricultural fields in winter; very young goslings may eat insect larvae. The IUCN's notes for the European part of the range give roots, tubers, leaves, grasses, stems and seed heads of aquatic plants and sedges.
Snow geese forage mostly by walking in shallow water or on land, and except when nesting they usually feed in flocks, sometimes mixed with other geese (Audubon).
Did you know?
Only the mother goose sits on the eggs.
Only the female snow goose keeps the eggs warm; she even builds most of the nest after laying her first egg.
Incubation is by the female only, and she builds the nest mostly after the first egg is laid (Audubon).
White with black wingtips
Most snow geese are white. The ends of their wings are black.
Young snow geese are gray.
An adult white snow goose has black wingtips. Its beak and legs are pink-orange. Young snow geese are grayer than adults.
Blue geese have a white head but a gray body and wings. Young blue geese are mostly dark brown, with dark beaks and legs.
White-morph adults have black primaries (wingtips) and pink-orange bills and legs; immatures are grayer (Audubon). Blue-morph adults have gray bodies and wings and white heads, and blue-morph immatures are mostly dark brown with dark bills and legs (Audubon).
Snow geese migrate long distances in flocks, often flying very high, and only the females incubate the eggs (Audubon).
Goslings that walk away
The mother goose makes a nest of plants and soft feathers.
The goslings leave the nest a few hours after they hatch.
Snow geese may stay with the same mate for life, and many nest in colonies. The female chooses the spot, often a small ridge with a good view, and builds the nest: a shallow dip filled with plants and lined with soft down feathers.
She usually lays 3 to 5 eggs and keeps them warm by herself for about 22 to 23 days. A few hours after hatching, the goslings leave the nest and find their own food while both parents look after them. The family may walk miles from the nest. The young can fly at 42 to 50 days old.
Snow geese may mate for life and usually first breed at 3 years (Audubon). In one courtship display the pair face each other and stretch their necks upward rapidly and repeatedly together. They often nest in colonies; the female selects a site, usually on a slight ridge or hummock with good visibility, and builds the nest, mostly after the first egg is laid: a shallow depression filled with a bulky bowl of plant material and lined with down (Audubon). For the European part of the range, the IUCN's notes say breeding begins in June, usually as soon as the ground is free of snow and within 7 to 10 days of arrival.
Clutches are typically 3 to 5 eggs, sometimes 1 to 7 (Audubon), or normally 5 or 6 in the European part of the range (IUCN notes). Only the female incubates, for 22 to 23 days, up to 25. The young leave the nest within a few hours, find their own food, are tended by both parents, may walk miles from the nest, and fledge at 42 to 50 days (Audubon).
Flocks on the move
Snow geese fly in big flocks.
They often fly very high in the sky.
Snow geese migrate long distances in flocks, often flying very high. In many places they follow narrow routes and stop at the same places along the way year after year.
They are seen in large numbers or not at all. Outside the nesting season they usually feed together in flocks, sometimes with other kinds of geese.
Audubon describes long migrations in flocks, often at great height, frequently along narrow corridors with traditional stopover points; the IUCN codes the species as a full migrant and congregatory. Except when nesting, snow geese feed in flocks, sometimes mixed with other geese (Audubon).
Breeding success depends on Arctic weather: in a series of exceptionally cold summers, snow geese may raise very few young (Audubon). The IUCN notes that climatic effects may affect the species in future (Murphy-Klassen et al. 2005).
Did you know?
Some snow geese are gray. They are called blue geese.
People once thought the 'blue goose' was a different kind of bird, but it is a darker color form of the snow goose.
The blue goose, long considered a separate species, is a color morph of the lesser snow goose; white and blue birds pair up and can have young of either or both colors (Audubon).
Too many geese?
There are millions and millions of snow geese.
So many geese have harmed some Arctic places where they nest.
The snow goose is listed as least concern, and its numbers are going up. There are about 15 million adult snow geese (a 2020 estimate).
Around 1900, greater snow geese had dropped to only 2,000 to 3,000 birds, but they recovered, and today there are far more snow geese. In 2008 the US Fish and Wildlife Service said so many geese had stripped parts of their fragile tundra nesting grounds bare, and some areas may take decades to recover. Hunters are allowed to take more snow geese to try to slow the growth.
BirdLife International assessed Anser caerulescens as Least Concern for the IUCN Red List (assessed 12 November 2020, published 2021): an extremely large range, an increasing trend and about 15,000,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2020; the assessment's data field gives 16,000,000). Generation length is 8.5 years. The species is widely hunted, for recreation and to regulate its rapid growth, yet the increase continues (Mowbray et al. 2020, via IUCN).
In 2008 the US Fish and Wildlife Service said mid-continent 'light geese' (lesser and greater snow geese and Ross's geese) probably exceeded 5 million breeding birds, up more than 300% since the mid-1970s, that they had denuded parts of their tundra breeding habitat, and that the damage was linked to smaller body size, lower gosling survival and fewer nests of some other birds, such as semipalmated sandpipers, at La Perouse Bay, Manitoba. It made a 'conservation order', first used in 1999, permanent to increase the harvest.
IUCN Red List
How is the snow goose doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
Amazing facts
-
Some snow geese are gray. They are called blue geese.
People once thought the 'blue goose' was a different kind of bird, but it is a darker color form of the snow goose.
The blue goose, long considered a separate species, is a color morph of the lesser snow goose; white and blue birds pair up and can have young of either or both colors (Audubon).
-
Baby snow geese leave the nest a few hours after they hatch.
Snow goose goslings leave the nest within a few hours of hatching, and the family may walk miles away.
Young usually leave the nest within a few hours, feed themselves, and the family group may travel miles on foot from the nest (Audubon).
-
Snow geese often fly very high.
Snow geese migrate in flocks, often flying very high, and stop at the same places year after year.
Migration is in flocks, often very high, frequently along narrow corridors with traditional stopovers (Audubon).
-
Only the mother goose sits on the eggs.
Only the female snow goose keeps the eggs warm; she even builds most of the nest after laying her first egg.
Incubation is by the female only, and she builds the nest mostly after the first egg is laid (Audubon).
Words to know
- tundra
- cold, treeless land in the far north where the ground under the surface stays frozen
- gosling
- a young goose
- color morph
- one of two or more color forms of the same kind of animal
- colony
- a group of animals of the same kind that nest close together
- down
- soft, fluffy feathers close to a bird's body
- migrate
- to travel to another place for part of the year
Discovery challenge
-
Where do snow geese lay their eggs?
Where do snow geese nest?
In which habitat do snow geese breed?
- On Arctic tundra
- In tropical rainforest
- On desert sand
Show the answer
On Arctic tundra
In the cold far north, on the tundra.
On Arctic tundra, usually near the coast and close to lakes or rivers.
Arctic tundra, usually within about 8 kilometers of the coast near lakes or rivers (Audubon).
-
What is a 'blue goose'?
What is a 'blue goose'?
What is the 'blue goose' in relation to the snow goose?
- A darker-colored snow goose
- A goose that lives in the sea
- A baby snow goose
Show the answer
A darker-colored snow goose
It is a snow goose with gray feathers.
A snow goose of a darker color, with a gray body and a white head.
A color morph of the lesser snow goose, once treated as a separate species (Audubon).
-
Who sits on the snow goose's eggs?
Which parent keeps the snow goose eggs warm?
Which parent incubates snow goose eggs?
- Only the mother
- Only the father
- Neither parent
Show the answer
Only the mother
The mother goose.
Only the female, for about 22 to 23 days. Both parents look after the goslings.
The female alone, for 22 to 23 days (up to 25); both parents tend the young (Audubon).
-
What do snow geese eat?
What do snow geese mostly eat?
What makes up most of the snow goose's diet?
- Plants
- Fish
- Insects only
Show the answer
Plants
Plants: grass, roots and seeds.
Almost only plants: seeds, leaves and roots, plus berries in fall and grain in winter.
Almost entirely plant material; only very young goslings may eat insect larvae (Audubon).
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Canada
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, stretching across the north of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up into the Arctic. It has the Rocky Mountains, thousands of islands and about 42 million people, who speak English, French and many other languages.
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Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
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Watch
Country
Mexico
Mexico is a large country in southern North America, between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It has smoking volcanoes, ancient cities built by the Maya and other peoples, and about 132 million people, many of them in and around Mexico City.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River flows about 3,770 kilometers from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, through the middle of the United States. Its basin drains about 40 percent of the continental United States. Long ago Native Americans paddled canoes on it; later came steamboats, and today huge barges carry grain and fuel. Millions of birds follow it when they migrate.
Explore next
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Watch
3D
Animal
Canada goose
The Canada goose is a big, black-necked goose with a white chinstrap, found near lakes, rivers, fields and parks across North America. Many migrate in noisy V-shaped flocks, but more and more stay all year on city lawns. People also brought Canada geese to Britain and other parts of Europe.
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Watch
Animal
Trumpeter swan
The trumpeter swan is the largest native waterfowl in North America. It is all white with a big black beak, and its deep call sounds like a French horn. Hunting nearly wiped it out in the early 1900s, but with protection and people bringing swans back to old homes, its numbers have grown again.
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Watch
Animal
Red knot
The red knot is a stocky shorebird that nests on Arctic tundra and spends the rest of the year on coasts around the world, as far south as southern South America and Australia. In spring its face and chest turn rusty red. Some red knots fly more than 9,300 miles (about 15,000 kilometers) north each spring, stopping on the way to eat and build up fat.
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Watch
Country
Canada
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, stretching across the north of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up into the Arctic. It has the Rocky Mountains, thousands of islands and about 42 million people, who speak English, French and many other languages.
-
Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
-
Watch
Country
Mexico
Mexico is a large country in southern North America, between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It has smoking volcanoes, ancient cities built by the Maya and other peoples, and about 132 million people, many of them in and around Mexico City.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River flows about 3,770 kilometers from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, through the middle of the United States. Its basin drains about 40 percent of the continental United States. Long ago Native Americans paddled canoes on it; later came steamboats, and today huge barges carry grain and fuel. Millions of birds follow it when they migrate.
-
Watch
Animal
Nēnē
The nēnē, or Hawaiian goose, lives only on the Hawaiian Islands and is the state bird of Hawaiʻi. In the 1950s only about 30 were left in the wild. Thanks to captive breeding, releases and protection from predators, there are now a few thousand, but they still need people's help to survive.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Trace a snow goose's journey from the Arctic tundra to its wintering grounds in the United States and Mexico.
- Describe the white and blue color forms of the snow goose.
- Describe how a female snow goose nests and how goslings find food after hatching.
- Explain why very large numbers of snow geese have harmed parts of their Arctic nesting grounds.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might goslings that can walk and feed themselves within hours be useful in the short Arctic summer?
- Can there ever be too many of one kind of animal? What happens to the plants and other animals around them?
- Why do you think snow geese stop at the same places on every migration?
Try at home or in class
- With a tape measure, mark 1.7 meters, the widest a snow goose's wings can stretch, and compare it with your own height.
- On a map of North America, find the Arctic coast of Canada and then Mexico. Draw a line between them to show how far some snow geese travel.
Key vocabulary: tundra, gosling, color morph, colony, down, migrate
Where these facts come from
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- Anser caerulescens (BirdLife International, assessed 12 November 2020, published 2021) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Anser caerulescens: population, habitat, threats and use text , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Anser caerulescens: IUCN Red List global assessment record (BirdLife International 2021), IUCN checklist on GBIF , GBIF
- Snow goose (Guide to North American Birds; text by Kenn Kaufman, 1996) , National Audubon Society
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalizes light goose conservation rules (December 2008) , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Pacific Flyway inquiry for conservation order regulations , Arctic Goose Joint Venture
- File:Snow goose in Central Park (33138).jpg (Harlem Meer, Central Park, New York City, 23 March 2019, Rhododendrites) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.