Similar Species
Ross's Goose
Adult white morph
Smaller with a much smaller bill than Snow Goose. Lacks Snow Goose's black line or "grinning patch" on bill.
© Justin Lawson | Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, March 12, 2017Similar Species
Ross's Goose
Adult blue morph
Both color morphs of Ross's Goose are smaller with a much smaller bill than Snow Goose. Ross's lacks the black line or "grinning patch" on the bill.
© Brooke Miller | Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, January 17, 2015Similar Species
Tundra Swan
Adult (Whistling)
Tundra Swans are larger with a longer neck and larger black bill than Snow Goose. Lacks dark wingtips.
© Ian Davies | Macaulay LibraryAlaska, July 12, 2013Similar Species
Trumpeter Swan
Adult
Trumpeter Swans are much larger with a longer neck and black bill than Snow Goose. Lacks dark wingtips.
© Steve Percival | Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, August 23, 2015Similar Species
Mute Swan
Adult
Mute Swans are much larger with a longer neck than Snow Goose. Lacks dark wingtips.
© Jack Bushong | Macaulay LibraryNew Jersey, March 26, 2017Main Species
Snow Goose
Adult white morph
All white with black flight feathers, pink bill with prominent black grin patch, and pink legs.
© Nell Moore | Macaulay LibraryTennessee, December 23, 2010Adult blue morph
Blue morph mostly sooty gray with white mostly limited to the head.
© Charles Hundertmark | Macaulay LibraryColorado, February 08, 2017Adult white morph
Forages in wide-open spaces, such as cultivated fields and shallow wetlands during the nonbreeding season.
© Jay McGowan | Macaulay LibraryNew York, March 19, 2015Adult intermediate morph
Intermediate morph mostly sooty gray but with white on the belly and a white head. Heads of all morphs can get stained yellowish.
© Simon Boivin | Macaulay LibraryQuebec, May 07, 2017Adult white morph
In flight overhead all white with black primaries on the wing.
© Kevin Faccenda | Macaulay LibraryPennsylvania, March 05, 2017Adult white morph
Snow Geese typically give numerous nasal honks in flight. Their black wingtips are highly visible in flight even at a distance.
© Tom Johnson | Macaulay LibraryArizona, January 01, 2014Juvenile white morph
White with dusky gray on head, neck, and wings. Bill and legs are dusky pink.
© Andrew Dobson | Macaulay LibraryBermuda, March 16, 2017Juvenile blue morph
Entirely dark sooty gray.
© Suzanne Labbé | Macaulay LibraryQuebec, November 14, 2016Flock (white and blue morphs)
Snow Geese often form massive flocks during the nonbreeding season, and often make mass exoduses.
© Brian Sullivan | Macaulay LibraryMissouri, February 29, 2012Adult blue morph and adult white morph
White and blue morphs will flock together, but white almost always outnumber blue.
© Suzanne Labbé | Macaulay LibraryQuebec, November 14, 2016Adult blue morph (with Canada Goose)
Will flock with other goose species.
© Macaulay LibraryOntario, October 01, 2016Flock (white and blue morphs)
This flock in the Midwest contains both white and blue morph individuals. Blue morphs tend to be more common in the Midwest and along the Gulf Coast.
© Timothy Barksdale | Macaulay LibraryMissouri, December 01, 1998Adult white morph and adult blue morph
White and blue morphs will flock together, but white almost always outnumber blue.
© Joshua Covill | Macaulay LibraryMontana, March 29, 2017