Northeast Goose Finding Tactics

With the Delaware Goose-a-palooza 2016 coming up this weekend, we’ve put together a short summary of the Northeast’s common and unusual goose species and also a few helpful links for participants. Remember that if you haven’t signed up for the event, please email Alan Kneidel and he can register you for a team and goose-searching territory. The objective for each team during the Goose-a-palooza is this: Locate goose flocks in your territory, and spend some quality time searching through them. In addition to keeping a rough tally of the number of individual geese (preferably using the eBird mobile app for iPhones or Android or writing notes that can be entered into eBird later), the overarching theme is to keep an eye out for rare goose species and other oddities. As a community of birders, we are hoping to get a really awesome snapshot of the goose abundance, distribution, and species composition during the peak of spring goose migration in Delaware during the Goose-a-palooza. Most importantly this event is for enjoying the goose migration spectacle that occurs in Delaware and across the Northeast, and for having one day out of the year to study and learn more about goose identification and distribution across our natural and agricultural habitats. There is an endless amount of information and discussion that could be shared, but this article serves more as an introduction to the geese in the region and we hope you enjoy it!

Strategies for finding and searching through geese

In general the three types of goose flock scenarios you might encounter are foraging geese, resting geese, and flying geese. As geese migrate up the coast, many spend a few days in a particular area of ideal habitat to rest and refuel, utilizing the expansive natural and agricultural habitats that the Northeast has to offer. During this time, geese have certain roosting and resting locations that they spend the night at, but then depart to their chosen foraging habitat during the day. Roost locations can be in large fields, on ponds and lakes, and along the coast. Foraging locations are in large, open fields and wet meadows. Geese may also be seen flying high overhead in active migration, or they could just be flying between foraging and roosting locations. Note the direction geese are flying in, and use those observations to predict where geese may be heading to land and be more easily viewed. Staking out a roost location at sunrise, and again at sunset would be ideal for scanning through very large flocks as birds join up or leave in small groups. During the middle of the day, driving around and finding foraging locations would be most beneficial.

Counting large flocks

Sometimes counting or estimating flocks larger than 100 birds is difficult, but eBird has two articles concerning tips for counting at this link. An estimate or a fairly exact count is always better than just reporting ‘X’ geese, since that could stand for 1 or a million! But don’t worry, once you get the hang of counting by 10s or 100s across a flock, you can estimate flock sizes quickly and correctly.

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Canada Goose – The classic brown goose. These large geese gather in medium to large flocks. There are two distinct subspecies which are common in the state – the larger, local subspecies which spends the entire year in the Northeast, and the slightly smaller migrant subspecies. Both types mix together, and it is often hard to tell them apart unless there is an extreme example for direct comparison. More info here.

 

 

Snow Goose – A medium to large white-and-black goose with pink bill. This species, in particular the “Greater” Snow Goose subspecies, is incredibly common in most of the Northeast during spring migration, when there can be hundreds of thousands spread out across the coastal plains. As with Canada Geese, there is size variation between males and females. In addition to the classic white color type there are also darker birds known as ‘Blue Geese’. More info here.

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  Snow Goose (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

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  Snow Goose with yellow neck-band – please record these 4-digit codes! (Photo by Tim Schreckengost)

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Brant – More specifically, the “Atlantic” Brant is found almost exclusively in coastal areas where small flocks feed on aquatic grasses. It would be unlikely to encounter a Brant away from saltwater. These chunky, dark geese are smaller than Canadas and have a black head and neck, except for the thin white collar on adults. They are unlikely to associate with other geese, although in some instances they can be found with Canada or Snow Geese. More info here.

Cackling Goose – This tiny goose species, especially the “Richardson’s” subspecies, can be found among Canada and Snow Goose flocks across the region. This species’ population seems to be increasing, and more Cackling Geese are found in the Northeast each winter. Any large Canada Goose flock could be expected to have at least one Cackling Goose mixed in, and it isn’t unusual to find a small group of 2 to 4 together. These are essentially miniature versions of Canada Geese, with small bills, a silvery-gray wash to their mantle, and a slightly darker-tan breast than a Canada Goose. Sometimes Cacklers show a very thin white band at the base of their black necks. Extreme care should be taken when IDing a Cackling Goose, to make sure it isn’t a smaller Canada Goose subspecies or runt, or a even a hybrid between the two. David Sibley has a great article on spotting Cackling Geese among Canadas, and another article about bill shape in Cackling Geese. More info here.

Ross’s Goose – Another tiny goose species, but this is a miniature version of a Snow Goose, and can be found among Snow and Canada Geese. It can be pretty well expected that any large Snow Goose flock will have at least one Ross’s mixed in. Extreme care should be taken when IDing Ross’s Geese, as there are many probable hybrids mixed in to Snow Goose flocks as well. A ‘textbook’ Ross’s Goose is very small, cute, and round-bodied; with a stubby pinkish-purple bill that is shaped like a 90 degree triangle attached to a very round head. In flight a Ross’s can look almost half the size of a Snow Goose. Their small size also means that they can be sneaky, and hide behind other large geese very well – it’s always worth scanning through flocks and portions of flocks multiple times to be sure that you saw all the birds present. Often the best opportunity to spot a Ross’s Goose among Snow Geese is to wait for the geese to be alert and standing upright, then scan through quickly and look for the tiny one with the cute little head! Examples of hybrid Snow X Ross’s Geese can be seen further down this page. More Ross’s Geese info here.

Greater White-fronted Goose – This is the rarest of the regularly occurring geese in the Northeast, and two subspecies can be expected – one from Western North America, and the other from Greenland. This medium-sized, grayish-brown goose has bold orange legs and a pink or orange bill, in addition to often showing splotchy black markings across their breasts. The best way to pick one out among other geese is to look for their orange legs. White-fronts can mostly be found among large Canada Goose flocks, but have also shown up among Snow Geese. Singles and small groups could be expected. Careful study is needed to determine subspecies, and photos should be taken – typically mostly Greenland GWFG occur in the Northeast, but some winters see incursions of Western GWFG into the mid-Atlantic. Beware that many domestic goose varieties can vaguely resemble Greater White-fronted Geese. More info from David Sibley on Greater White-fronted Geese can be found here. More species info here.

 

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Barnacle Goose – A small but sharply-patterned goose that is a vagrant from the North Atlantic and Europe. Most often found among Canada Geese, with increasing frequency each winter. The Barnacle Goose is unmistakable, with a cream-colored face, black neck and breast, light gray belly, and beautiful blueish-gray and black mantle. They can be found in singles and pairs, and recently Cackling/Canada X Barnacle Goose hybrids have been found in the region. More info here.

Pink-footed Goose – Another rarity from the North Atlantic and Europe, this classy goose is similar to a Greater White-fronted in a lot of ways, but sports a chocolate-brown head, grayish-brown body, and pink-and-black bill. This species has so far only been found among Canada Geese in the Northeast, and as singles or pairs. Many birders have noted that Pink-footed Geese typically bathe more frequently than other geese, often flailing their bright pink legs around. More info here.

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Domestic Goose X Canada Goose – Sadly, a hybrid between a Canada Goose and some sort of domestic farm goose species is the most likely combination to find in the Northeast. In general, these hybrids resemble a large Canada Goose with a pot belly, saggy rear, and orange legs. They typically show face and bill characteristics of farm geese – with orange bills and fleshy knobs on their foreheads. Domestic X Canada hybrids are highly variable though, and some could resemble Greater White-fronted or Snow X Canada hybrids. Also beware of Canada Geese with plumage abnormalities like partial albinism, etc.

Snow X Canada Goose – These hybrid combinations are typically smaller, similar in size to a Snow Goose and often show very intermediate traits between the two species. Compared to similar-looking domestic X Canada hybrids their body’s are more naturally-proportioned, and they have Snow Goose-like faces and bills. More info here.

Snow X Ross’s Goose – This hybrid combination is fairly common in large Snow Goose flocks. These are just what they would seem – a nice mixture of Snow and Ross’s Goose traits on an intermediately-sized goose. This combination is highly variable, but show a thin Snow Goose-like grin patch and otherwise display the small, cute factor of a Ross’s Goose. Check out these examples below, and make sure to try and photograph any hybrids you come across. More info here. David Sibley also has an excellent article about IDing Snow Goose, Ross’s Goose, and their hybrids at this link.

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Tundra Swan – This is the most common swan in natural areas, and is often found in flocks. They will also join goose flocks as well. These are medium-sized swans with chunky black bills, sometimes with a yellow patch near the lores. The forehead shape above their bill is rounded. Juveniles can have pinkish bills similar to juvenile Mute and Trumpeter. More info here.

Mute Swan – A very large, introduced swan species that can be found in small groups in natural areas and on urban ponds and lakes. They are showy, and have large orange bills. Their tails come to a point, whereas the other two swan species have rounded tails. More info here.

Trumpeter Swan – This is a rare species that could be found among either of the more likely swans; with Canada Geese; or even totally alone. Trumpeters are just slightly larger than Mute Swans, and have long black bills and a V-shaped forehead. Be sure to photograph any potential Trumpeter Swans, as there are very few records throughout the region! Some Trumpeters in the Northeast have plastic wing-tags from a study in Ontario. More info here.