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2	Coming up ……… Where they breed Where they winter Identification Color morphs Juveniles (first year birds) A note about neck bands Snippets of useless information
3	Lesser Snow Goose
4	Lesser Snow Goose Western population breeds from n Alaskan coast eastwards to Banks (NWT) and Victoria (NU) Islands of arctic Canada. Midcontinent population breeds from e Victoria Island south to Pelly Lake (NU), e to sw Baffin Is, s to Southampton Is. and along w coast of Hudson Bay (NU/MAN) to mid-James Bay (NU) and on east coast of Hudson Bay (PQ).
5	Lesser Snow Goose Western population winters from s BC through WA and OR to CA, coastal lowlands of nw Mexico, sw AZ, se CO, s NM and Chihuahua and s on central plateau of Mexico to c Jalisco. Midcontinent population winters from se NE s through e KS, e OK and e TX; east through s-c IA, c IL, s through w KT, w TN and w AL to Gulf coast, LA and TX s to n Tamaulipas. Highest densities along Missouri River and LA and TX Gulf coast.
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7	Greater Snow Goose
8	Greater Snow Goose Breeds from ne Ellesmere Is (Nunavut Territory, NU), Axel Heiberg Is, Devon & Bylot Is., to n & nw Baffin Island and to west of Baffin & Ellesmere Islands. Also Thule, Greenland. Small numbers on Somerset, Prince of Wales and Bathurst Islands.
9	Greater Snow Goose Winters along Atlantic coast from MA to SC. Main concentrations in NJ (Forsythe NWR), se PA (lower Susquehanna River), DE (Bombay Hook, Prime Hook NWRs), MD, VA (Chincoteague NWR) and NC (Pea Island NWR).
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12	Ross’ Goose
13	Ross’ Goose 95% Breed in the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary in NWT in the central Canadian Arctic. Remainder along w and s coasts of Hudson Bay, Southampton I., sw Baffin I., Banks I. Colonial breeder, usually with Lesser Snow Geese.
14	Ross’ Goose Main wintering area is the Central Valley of CA. Increasing numbers winter in se CO, w OK, NM, n TX and nc Highlands of Mexico. Also Gulf coasts of LA and TX.
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16	Identification - Size
17	Identification - size
18	I.d. – Greater and Lesser Very similar overall other than size. Size difference only obvious when both subspecies together. Both have “grinning patches”. For our area, look for smaller headed, short-billed, smaller bodied snow goose amongst the Greaters. Lesser often mistaken for Ross’ or hybrid.
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20	Identification - bills Lesser and Greater have ‘grinning patches’ - tomia of both mandibles are black. Ross’ does not have an obvious grinning patch. Head feathering on Greater and Lesser extends onto bill in a U-shape. Ross’ feathering meets the bill in a vertical line. Bill of adult Greater & Lesser uniform pink. Bill of Ross’ pink with olive-gray to purple caruncles on basal end of upper mandible.
21	I.d. – Snow vs Ross’ Ross’ has small, rounded head Ross’ has no prominent grinning patch Ross’ has relatively short neck Ross’ has stubby, triangular bill Ross’ has dark ‘warts’ at base of bill Ross’ always lacks yellow head staining
22	Ross’ vs Lesser Snow
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24	Juveniles – white morph
25	Juveniles – blue morph
26	Color Morphs Type 1 (+2) “pure white” with 7 black primaries and little or no gray on coverts. Type 7 (+6) “pure blue” with all underparts gray and mostly pale (or white) between legs and tail. Blue phase Ross’ Goose (rare) thought to be result of white Ross’/blue Lesser Snow.
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29	A note about neckbands Usually black letters/numbers on yellow. Often easy to read with a scope. Double-check the code (or get a second opinion). Send to: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl
30	Neckbands
31	Aforementioned “snippets” Ross’s Goose is named after Bernard Rogan Ross (1827-1874), chief trader with Hudson’s Bay Company. Ross’s Gull is named after James Clark Ross (1800-1862), Royal Navy officer. The Cree word for Snow Goose is ‘Wawa’. Transit time of food in gut 1-2 hr; defacation rate 15 dropping/hr in marsh, 6 droppings/hr in small grain cereal fields.
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