4000 Miles From Home

After hatching on the Arctic Circle this summer....

During the winters in Tucson, Snow Geese are seen in very small numbers. There may be fewer than a dozen in Pima County this winter and we saw two juvenile Snow Geese on a golf course recently.

The birds hatched this summer and have quite a bit of gray feathers. They will turn snowy white around their second summer. What amazes me is seeing these juvenile birds and knowing that they traveled an incredible distance to get to their winter home here in Tucson. It is thought that Snow Geese migrate due south from their breeding grounds on tundra in the Arctic. (the map is from Cornell's allaboutbirds.org site.)

Snow Geese seem to spend their time either eating, or resting. Snow Geese are large, plump birds weighing between 3 and 6 pounds.

Snow Geese have black under their wings, visible here during a wing stretch. In flight, the black wing markings are very noticeable.

Snow Geese have pink beaks and pink legs. Snow Geese have a dark line on their lower bill that is sometimes referred to as black lips or a grinning patch. (By the way, those are not eggs under that goose!!)

This pair of Snow Geese will stick together throughout the winter. We've seen Snow Geese at this particular golf course over the past few winters. In Tucson, the current number of reported Snow Geese in Pima County is less than a dozen. There may be up to 200 Snow Geese at Whitewater Draw in southeastern Arizona. In New Mexico at Bosque del Apache, the number of Snow Geese is usually in the tens of thousands each winter.

Snow Geese are at home near bodies of water and grassy fields. Adapting to their winter homes, they have studied the human beings that share their habitat. On the golf course, the birds have learned to ignore golf carts and to ignore golfers. The environment works for them.

It is always nice to welcome these winter visitors, authentic “snowbirds”, to Tucson.