Ross’ Goose

Description: The smallest subspecies of the three types of white geese in North America is the Ross’ goose. The Ross’ goose has black primary feathers on its wings with white feathers covering the rest of their body. Their bill is a dark pink that fades to a lighter pink and the area where their bill meets their head is bluish. Their feet and legs are a rosy pink color and their eyes are dark brown. The females are slightly smaller than the males. They have a shorter neck than that of the greater or lesser snow goose, for which they are often mistaken. Ross’ geese are differentiated from other species of snow geese in that they are smaller, beat their wings faster, and have a higher pitch to their call.

Breeding: Ross’ geese will breed in the low arctic tundra areas primarily in the Queen Maud Gulf, the southern Southampton Island, parts of Alaska, and the Western coast of Hudson Bay. They will build their nests in low lying areas with plenty of tall vegetation, in and amongst lesser snow geese. The female Ross’ geese will lay about 3 to 4 eggs per nesting season.

Migrating and Wintering: Ross’ geese are some of the very first to migrate out of their Canadian breeding territories. The primary wintering haven for Ross’ geese is the Central Valley of California, however there are growing population numbers found in some US states like Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Texas, and part of Mexico.

Food habits: Ross’ geese tend to eat all sorts of grasses, seeds, nuts, grains, and are usually attracted to agriculture areas where there is extra wheat and barley grain from a harvest.

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