In spring, waves of bright white snow geese against an endless blue sky fly into southeastern Colorado. They roost on the scattered lakes on the prairie and feed in the surrounding fields, making the area a favorite rest stop on their annual migration. Lesser snow geese are considered to be the most abundant goose in the world and number at least 6 million. There are four distinct populations recognized.
The lesser snow geese you will see at the High Plains Snow Goose Festival are part of the Western Central Flyway population that are on their way back to the Canadian Arctic where they nest. This flock winters in southeastern Colorado, New Mexico, the Texas panhandle and northern Mexico.
Lesser snow geese come in two different color phases within the same species. In the white phase, the geese are as white as snow except for the black wing tips. The other phase, called blue geese, is slate gray with a white head. Both have a dark “grinning patch” on the sides of their bill.
Ross Geese: Mixed in the flocks of snow geese you may find some Ross’s geese, which look very much like snow geese except that they are about 2/3 the size of snow geese and do not have the grinning patch. Ross’s geese weigh about 3-3 ½ pounds and snow geese weigh between 5-6 pounds.
In the arctic, snow geese graze on grasses and sedges that grow in the tundra. While migrating through the prairies of North America, they will also feed on leftover grain in the fields.