For the Birds: There’s Snow in the Valley -- Snow Geese that is…

Snow Geese landing. Note the black wingtips.
Photo by Ray Hamlyn

By Christine Southwick

Snow Geese have returned to Skagit Valley, one of their prime wintering grounds, near Fir Island and northward to Port Susan Bay Preserve. They spend their summer breeding on the Russian island of Wrangel, 3,000 miles away.

Snow Geese are a North American species, with both lesser (western), and Greater (eastern) subspecies, all of which breed in various parts of the Arctic Tundra. They start arriving in late September and usually leave in late March.

Snow Geese can be identified by their black tips on the underside of their wings. Snow Geese have a black edge along their bills - it almost looks like someone ran a black crayon between the upper and lower bills. 

Their legs and feet are rose-colored, but their legs and heads are often stained a rusty-brown from the minerals in the soil.

The rich farmland in Skagit County supports approximately 100,000 Snow Geese in their large wintering and migration flocks. It’s a treat to see these white geese with black under-wing tips land in nearby fields. 

They are very vocal and can be heard more than a mile away from where they are foraging.

Flock by the road. Photo by Doug Parrott

A Snow Goose usually forms a lifelong pair bond in its second year and starts raising its annual three to five goslings in its third year. The females return to their hatching grounds to breed their young. The babies leave the nest and start feeding themselves within hours of hatching but stay under their parents’ protection for the next two to three years.

Snow Geese forage by using their sharp beaks to pick up seeds and rip vegetation from the ground. Because of their increase in numbers they are starting to destroy some of their winter habitat.

Snow Geese may be hunted between October through January in Washington State, so be aware of your surroundings if you go viewing where hunting is permitted. Hunters that I have seen have obvious locations and are required to shoot upward.

The Skagit Valley is a major wintering site for Snow Geese, Trumpeter Swans, and Tundra Swans. It is well worth the trip to go see and hear the flocks. There is an annual Port Susan Snow Goose and Birding Festival in February at the Nature Conservancy’s Port Susan Bay Preserve.

Just remember to pull off the much-used rural roads, don't approach the flocks, and respect the property rights of the local landowners.

Previous For the Birds columns can be seen here