Snow Goose

The snow goose with the scientific name of Chen caerulescens is one of the members of the goose bird family which is commonly seen in India. It is also called as Blue goose. It is one of the medium sized goose birds. With its dazzling white plumage, the snow goose is aptly named and is one of the easiest of all geese to identify. The quick clarification of this bird is given below,

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Order	Anseriformes
Family	Anatidae
Subfamily	Anserinae
Tribe	Anserini
Genus	Chen
Species	Chen caerulescens
Biological Name	Chen caerulescens

Physical Characteristics:

The Snow goose plumage and morphs are in two different colors. That is white or gray / blue. Hence they are called as snow goose or blue goose. The white morph birds are in white colour except they have black wings. The blue morph gooses have bluish grey plumage on its head, neck and tail. Both of these blue and snow gooses' legs and feet are in rose- red colour. Their bills are in pink colour with black cutting edges.

For the immature snow gooses, the colors in the feet, bill and legs are not too bright as that of the matured ones. Snow gooses are very vocal in nature and can be often heard from a mile away. The length of this snow goose is in the range of 66 to 84 cm (2.16 to 2.75 feet).

The wingspan of the snow goose is in the range of 132 to 165 cm (4.3 to 5.51 ft.). The weight of the snow goose is in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 kg (5.5 to 7.7 lb.)

Behaviour:

Snow goose usually walk in the shallow water or on land foraging for food. These snow goose flocks sometimes include other geese with them as well. They rip the vegetation from the land. Sometimes this may cause damage to the vegetation where large numbers of geese are living.

Habitat:

The main habitats for these snow gooses are coastal areas and freshwater marshes, agricultural lands and estuaries. But, they leave these areas during the migration and winter seasons.

Migration:

Large snow goose can migrate to long distances. The snow gooses fly along the narrow corridors searching for a suitable place to live. They mainly prefer wintering areas. Snow gooses breed during late May to Mid August. But, they leave their nests earlier, and spend more than six months on their migration between the warmer wintering areas.

During the spring migration time, the large snow gooses fly along the narrow corridors. The snow geese stay in coastal marsh areas in the winter season. They use their short and very strong bills to dig the roots of the marsh grasses for their dinner.

Snow geese mostly feed on plant matter. They eat seeds, berries, roots of aquatic vegetation and leaves. Their young ones sometimes feed on the invertebrates in the water. The primary food source for these snow geese in the winter season is waste grain from the agricultural lands.

Snow Geese feed in the grain fields when they reach the plains in September, and they continue to use agricultural lands till they leave them in April and May.

Places Found

The snow gooses are commonly seen in the Indian subcontinent. They are commonly seen in different parts of Himalaya, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. We can see the snow goose in the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary. They are also seen in Washington, Russia, north and west of the Bering Strait. The Snow Goose also breed in northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.

Mating and Nesting:

Snow Geese are used to nesting in colonies. These snow gooses usually begin the nesting in May or June month, based on the climatic conditions. At the second year only, the long term pair bonds are usually formed between the snow gooses. These snow gooses usually do not start breeding until the third year. The female snow gooses are philopatric in nature. They will return to the place where they hatched for breeding. The female snow gooses select their nesting place and start building the nest on a place of high ground.

The nest is a shallow depression lined with plant material and these snow gooses nests may be reused from year to year. The female snow goose lays 3 to 5 eggs. The female snow goose incubates these eggs for 22 to 25 days. After the hatching, the young snow goose leaves the nest within a few hours. The young snow gooses are to feed themselves. Both male and female snow goose protect their young ones. The young snow goose can be able to fly after 42 days to 50 days. But, they live with their family till they reach 2 to 3 years old.

This species is one of the most abundant species belonging to waterfowl in the world. The main reason for the threats of these species is habitat destruction. They are destroying their own habitat by ripping the vegetation from the ground. The snow geese are widely hunted around the world.

This practice needed to be controlled in future. In 1990, the population of this snow goose was reduced in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 birds. After that, there was a strong recovery made to increase the strength of this snow goose. Now, the population of these birds has increased and reached the range between 6 to 7 million in the world.

Subspecies of Snow Goose

There are two subspecies of snow goose which are recognized in the world. They are distinguished by the size of the species.
1. Snow Goose (Lesser) with the scientific name of Chen caerulescens caerulescens
2. Snow Goose (Greater) with the scientific name of Chen caerulescens atlantica

Interesting facts about Snow Goose

1. The Snow Goose which is dark blue in colour is controlled by a single gene.
2. Dark colour snow goose is dominant over white colour snow goose.
3. If a white snow goose mates with a dark colour snow goose, the offspringse will all be of dark colour.
4. If two white snow geese mates, the young one will be white.
5. If two dark snow geese mates, the young one will be dark.