Most Snow Geese are all white with black primaries. Rusty stains on the face are the result of foraging in mud containing iron oxides. The pink bill is substantial, with a dark “grinning patch” where the upper and lower mandibles meet. The bill of a Snow Goose is considerably longer than it is tall, giving it a much flatter slope than the bill of a Ross's Goose. Also, where the transition from white feathering to bare bill parts is more curved or convex with the feathered area projecting out onto the bill, thus there is not the vertical and straight line of transition seen on a Ross's Goose. Juveniles have a gray-brown wash over most of the upperparts, and dusky bills and feet. Blue-morph individuals, most likely to occur in the eastern population, are gray-brown, with blue-gray on the wings and a white neck and head. Juvenile blue-morphs are gray-brown overall with less patterning on the wings.

Length: 64 (cm) Wingspan: 135 (cm)

Voice:

The call is a high-pitched honk, suggestive of a small dog barking.

Habitat:

Nests on tundra, winters in marshes and agricultural fields.

Behavior:

Flocks fly in long diagonal lines or Vs. On wintering grounds, forms massive flocks of several thousand individuals. Flocks are typically very tightly bunched whether on land or in the water. Where their ranges overlap, they are often found in mixed flocks with smaller, but very similar Ross's Geese.

Feeding:

Forages for plant matter, both above and below soil surface, and in shallow water.