Some of the largest members of the duck family (Anatidae), geese are closely related to ducks but spend much more time on land where they graze on grasses.

Geese mate for life, each parent cares for the young, and both sexes have similar plumage. Found mainly in the northern hemisphere, more common geese include Canadians and snows, but we’ve also included a few you may not yet be familiar with. Enjoy!

BRANT GEESE

Key Markings: Brants have short necks with small, black heads, bills, breast, primaries, tail and legs. The otherwise black neck has a series of white striations, called a necklace, near the middle. Belly color varies in lightness according to subspecies.

Wintering Range: Along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California and mainland Mexico, and along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina.

Habitat: Brant look for marine habitats that are marshy, along lagoons and estuaries and on shallow bays with ample availability of of eelgrass, a staple of the brant diet.

Book Your Hunt >>>

CACKLING GEESE

Key Markings: Cackling geese closely resemble Canada geese in flight, though they have proportionally smaller, stubbier, triangular-shaped bills than their Canada cousins. They sport distinctive long, black necks and white chinstraps, and the breast, abdomen and flanks are typically a light gray or dark chocolate brown with a U-shaped white band on the rump. The call is either a typical “honking” sound, high-pitched yelp or distinctive squeaking “cackle.”

Wintering Range: Primarily west of the continental divide with some subspecies stopping in the southern Central Flyway states.

Book Your Hunt >>>

CANADA GEESE

Key Markings: Most easily distinguished by a black head and neck with broad white cheek patches extending from the throat to the rear of the eye, Canadians are divided into seven subspecies that vary slightly be size, though all are relatively large and exhibit the characteristic “honking” call.

Wintering Range: From California to the Carolinas, north to the Dakotas and as far south as Mexico.

Habitat: Grain-producing agricultural lands adjacent to estuaries or marshes with bulrush and cordgrass.

Book Your Hunt >>>

EMPEROR GEESE

Key Markings: Emperor geese have gray body plumage that is subtly barred with black and white, and a pure-white white head, which are often stained orange-red from feeding in tidal ponds where iron oxide is concentrated.

Wintering Range: Most emperor geese winter along the Aleutian Islands, the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak and Afognak islands. Small numbers are occasionally found in Washington, Oregon and northern California.

Habitat: Emperors feed on aquatic plants and mollusks and crustaceans found in intertidal areas, salt marshes and tundra meadows.

Book Your Hunt >>>

ROSS’ GEESE 

Key Markings: The smallest of the three varieties of white geese found in North America, Ross’ geese are almost completely stark white with black primary feathers and a deep reddish-pink bill.

Wintering Range: Among the first to leave the breeding grounds in Canada, Ross’ geese are found primarily in the California Central Valley, but increasing numbers are wintering in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and the north-central highlands of Mexico.

Habitat: Fields and marshes where they feed on grasses, sedges and small grains, particularly waste wheat and barley in the winter months.

Book Your Hunt >>>

SNOW GEESE (Greater and Lesser)

Key Markings: Greater snow geese are simply larger versions of their lesser counterparts, although lesser snow geese have two color phases: a dark (blue) plumage and a white (snow) plumage. In their white snow plumage, lessers are difficult to distinguish from greaters (in flight) and are easy to confuse with Ross’ geese. All are stark white with pink bills and feet and black primary feathers. In the dark phase, lessers have white heads with bluish-gray bodies.

Wintering Range: Snow geese leave their arctic breeding grounds and migrate along a narrow corridor through the Pacific and Mississippi flyways to winter along the Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana and Mexico.

Habitat: Agricultural fields found adjacent to wintering areas, feeding on roots, rhizomes and shoots of bulrushes and salt-marsh cordgrass.

Book Your Hunt >>>

WHITE-FRONTED or SPECKLEBELLY GEESE

Key Markings: Named for the distinctive white band found at the base of bill, white-fronted geese are mostly grayish-brown with black blotches and bars on the breast, hence the nickname “specklebelly.”

Wintering Range: “Specs” migrate along the Pacific or Central flyways and winter in California’s Central Valley, coastal and mid-continent Mexico and coastal Texas and Louisiana.

Habitat: Coastal marshes, wet meadows and freshwater marshes where they graze on marsh grasses, grain crops, tundra plants, aquatic plants and fresh plant growth.

Book Your Hunt >>>