Snow Goose dark morph adult

Description:

The stout Snow Goose has two primary color forms: white and blue. The "blue" Snow Goose is actually a very dark gray overall. The blue is an optical illusion in areas where the gray is lighter. The dark form has white on the head, under-tail, and most of the under-wing. The light form is white overall, with black wingtips. Both forms have pinkish-orange legs and bills. This medium-sized goose has a short neck, and ranges in overall size depending upon whether the subspecies is the Greater or Lesser Snow Goose: length ranges from 28 to 31 inches, wingspan from 53 to 56 inches and weight from 5.3 to 7.4 pounds.

Habitat:

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (HNWR), a haven for migratory birds and other wildlife, lies in northwestern Grayson County, Texas. It was established in 1946 as an overlay of a portion of the Big Mineral arm of Lake Texoma in north-central Texas. Consisting of about 12,000 acres, the refuge provides a variety of habitats for birds and wildlife. It is made up of water, marsh, and upland habitat. The main focus at HNWR is providing a winter home for thousands of waterfowl. Canada, snow, white-fronted, and Ross' geese along with pintail, mallard, gadwall and other ducks use refuge impoundments and fields as stop-over and wintering grounds. At times, as many as 10,000 geese can be seen in one field. Ducks such as mallards, northern shovelers, green-winged teal, and northern pintail are commonly seen on refuge waters during fall and winter months.