Snow Geese Migration
by Elizabeth Winter
Title
Snow Geese Migration
Artist
Elizabeth Winter
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Every year, Nebraskans look forward to the migration of the snow geese!
Snow geese are known for their white plumage, but many of them are actually darker, gray-brown birds known as blue geese. These birds were once though to be two separate species, but they have recently been found to be merely two different color morphs of the same bird. A single gene controls the color difference.
Snow geese are harbingers of the changing seasons. They fly south for the winter in huge, honking flocks that may appear as a "U" formation or simply as a large "snowstorm" of white birds. They spend the colder seasons in southern coastal marshes, bays, wet grasslands, and fields. Their diet is entirely vegetarian, consisting of grasses and grains, grazed from damp soils or even shallow water.
At winter's end, snow geese fly north to their breeding grounds on the Arctic tundra. Pairs mate for life, and produce two to six eggs each year in a shallow ground nest. Chicks can swim and eat on their own within 24 hours, but families remain together through the young's first winter. Families can be identified as groups during both the southern and northern migrations.
In 1916, snow geese had become so rare in the eastern United States that hunting of the species was banned. Since that time, the birds have made a remarkable comeback. Today, though hunting has been reinstated, populations are thriving. In fact, the birds have become so numerous in places that they threaten to destroy their own habitat
Uploaded
February 20th, 2017
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Viewed 789 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/03/2024 at 5:49 AM
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Comments (25)
Gary F Richards
Awesome Snow Geese Migration composition, lighting, shading, lovely colors and artwork! F/L voted
Hanne Lore Koehler
Fantastic capture of this peaceful scene, Elizabeth! What gorgeous color, light and reflections! Magnificent composition! L/F
Marian Bell
Marvelous capture, Elizabeth! The reflections almost make the snow geese look suspended over the water! Fabulous find! l/f g+
Nancy Lee Moran
Such artistic shapes! The grassy reeds and their reflections look like an ancient form of writing . . . Favorite and vote in Water contest!
Mary Machare
With the water so smooth, these geese appear to be resting on glass. Fabulous capture, Elizabeth. LF
Kathy M Krause
Great capture Elizabeth!! I just recently was able to catch some photos of snow geese by Twin Lakes Iowa. They are so awesome to watch! Interesting description! Thank you for sharing that. At first I thought it was maybe two different types of geese until I looked up information on the snow goose. L/F