SNOW GOOSE 

 (Chen caerulescens) 



[DA: Snegas, DU: Sneeuwgans , FI: Luraihanhi , FR: Oie des neiges, GE: Schneegans, 

 IC: Snjogaes, IT: Oca iperborea, JA: Haku gan, NW: Snogas , PO: Ges sniezyca, 

 RU: (White Goose), SP: Ansar hiperboreo, Ansar nival, Ansar real, Ansar azul; 

 SW: Snogas, US: Blue Goose, Greater Snow Goose] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



Snow Geese breed in Arctic tundra from northeastern Siberia eastward across 

 the North American Arctic to northwestern Greenland (Cramp et al. 1977). About 

 1,635,000 Lesser Snow Geese breed in the western and central North American 

 Arctic. Large numbers winter in Louisiana (ca. 380,000 during the winters of 

 1972-73) and Texas (ca. 435,000) (Bellrose 1976; Maps 3, 4). In Alabama and 

 Mississippi the Snow Goose may be abundant during migration (Burleigh 1944, 

 Imhof 1976b) but the species is uncommon to rare elsewhere in the southeast. 



About 67,000 Greater Snow Geese nested in Greenland and the eastern Cana- 

 dian Arctic in 1969 (Heyland In Palmer 1976a). These birds winter primarily 

 along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to North Carolina. The largest winter- 

 ing concentration (ca. 30,000 birds) is found in Currituck and Pamlico sounds, 

 North Carolina (Bellrose 1976). 



SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OIL POLLUTION 



We believe that direct mortality of Snow Geese from oil spills will be 

 slight, since few of their activities would bring them into contact with areas 

 of spilled oil. The species would be most susceptibile on the north Atlantic 

 coast, because of cold weather and a tendency to utilize marine habitats more 

 than the birds that winter in Louisiana and Texas (Palmer 1976a). The most del- 

 eterious effects in warmer areas would probably occur on marshy feeding grounds 

 if an oil spill were severe enough to inundate these areas. Such an episode 

 occurred when an oil spill in the Gulf of St. Lawrence penetrated into marshes 

 used as a major staging area by the Greater Snow Goose. The disaster was 

 averted by prompt cleanup of the area before the geese arrived (Eagles 1964). 



Taxonomic note: The AOU (1957) check-list assigned the Snow Goose to the genus 

 Chen . Opinions differ regarding the status of Chen , and it is often lumped with 

 genus Anser , following Delacour (1954) and Johnsgard (1975, 1978). Similarly, 

 the AOU (1957) formerly listed the Snow and the Blue Goose as separate species. 

 Evidence presented by Cooch (1961) and Cooke and Cooch (1968), however, con- 

 firmed that the Blue and Snow Geese are color phases of the same race. Current- 

 ly, the AOU (1973) recognizes two subspecies: the Lesser Snow Goose , Chen caer - 

 ulescens caerulescens , and the Greater Snow Goose, C_. c^. atlantica , the former 

 displaying two plumage phases: dark (or blue form), and light phase. 



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