Ross's vs. Snow Geese!

Ross's and Snow Geese can sometimes cause problems for those whom aren't used to seeing these two beauties! Both of these geese are high arctic breeders whom population's are growing. They migrate throughout the United States and winter in the southern regions of the country. Usually, I find flocks of Snow Geese with spots of Ross's, so I have come to assume that Ross's Geese are more spread out when migrating and that the Snow Geese population is far greater in numbers overall.

Nikon Birding ProStaffer, Bill Schmoker, was kind enough to loan these vivid photographs of both species and some "Blue" Snow Geese as well. Both of these species come in the all white and blue varieties. This is why it is of utter importance to focus on size and shape to ID these birds. When they are together it is fairly self-explanatory. Notice above the four birds photographed? Can you see the size and shape differences here? There are two of each in this photo! Ross's Goose is a smaller version of the Snow goose sporting a much smaller bill with little or no "Grin," on the bill. That "Grin," is the amount of black on the bill that makes them have a smiling look to them. Snow Geese have a much larger bill with a noticeable dark patch whereas the Ross's may not have any at all or just a tiny bit. If you can see black on the bill from any distance, particularly from afar, then you are looking at a Snow Goose.

Also, notice the Snow Goose with the blue body. This is a different phase that will accompany flocks in far fewer numbers. Ross's Goose also has a blue phase but the size and shape always remains the same!

Here is another example of Snow Geese and the difference with the blue phase. Notice the black smiling patch? With the dark flight feathers (primaries and secondaries) we can also see the extent of the blue on the upper and lower breast region.

I like this photo because we have an adult Snow Goose in the foreground with two Ross's Geese off to the right and back. Look at the size of the birds. Snow with the superior size and longer neck! Let's focus on one of the attributes that I feel is most important. That is the head shape. Ross's Goose has a very round head to accompany the smaller bill. Notice the steeper slope on the forehead as well of the Ross's Goose. I urge you to also focus on the shallow slanted forehead of the Snow Goose. These things can be seen in flight while these birds travel in large flocks of multiple hundreds/thousands sometimes. It always helps to have a nice field-of-view in a binocular to spot these arctic winterers. I use my Nikon EDG 7x42 binocular with superior field-of-view. These bins allow for 417 feet at 1000 yards which is top of the class for this specification. 

This photo (Ross's Goose) above shows us the size differential with the Canada Geese in the background. Snow Geese would be in between these two species seen here.

This final shot of a Ross's Goose shows the perfect round head shape, lack of black smile on bill, shorter neck, and small bill!

Please ask questions should you have them. I would like to thank Bill Schmoker once again for his splendid photos of these birds. He uses a Nikon D2X and a 200-400 VR Nikkor lens for his photography. Good birding!