Snow geese are migratory birds that travel all the way from the northeast of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and back. They travel in large flocks made of many family units and fly during both night and day. They tend to return to the same nesting areas year after year. They are herbivorous; they eat roots, leaves, grasses, and sedges. They have strong bills for digging up roots in thick mud. There are two phases seen in the snow goose called the 'snow' phase and the 'blue' phase. In the adult 'snow' phase the body is a snowy white with black wing tips. They have red feet and legs, a pink bill, and a black 'grin patch' (the black patch of skin that surrounds the base of the bill, which resembles a smile). The adult blue phase geese have the same feet, legs, bill, and grin patch, but they have blue/gray bodies with black wing tips. They also have white necks and heads, and some white on the underside of their bellies. In the immature snow phase the body is a dirty white color with black wing tips and in the immature blue phase they are a slate gray with little or no white. In both immature phases they have red feet and legs but they are not as bright as the adult goose. Video clip of feeding Snow Geese in a tidal salt marsh at the end of the gallery. —
animaldiversity.org Snow geese are probably the noisiest waterfowl I have ever heard. Sounds here. Their call is a one syllable honk that one can hear from a far distance announcing their arrival. One gets a fair warning of arrival so no need to fumble with camera settings if photography is the activity. They 'bark' this way all the time weather in the air, on the water or on the ground. Jamaica Bay has its share of snow geese in the winter with large groups, hundreds to a couple of thousand, feeding in the bay and flying over to fresh water ponds. I don't think I have seen a solitary goose ever. In other locations with a much larger habitat, I have seen over ten thousand snow geese congregating together. It is quite a sight to see, and hear, at sunrise or sunset, thousands of these noisy birds flying over yor head.
