This guide will teach you what sorts of geese may be seen in Connecticut, as well as when they’re most likely to be seen and some interesting information.
In Connecticut, ten of the thirteen geese species discovered in North America have been spotted.
A gaggle is a group of geese. However, do you know the names shien, wedge, and plump that are given to geese?
Or that their territorial behavior and loud honking have been protecting pets, people, and even countries for centuries!
In the United States, it is unlawful to damage geese, their eggs, or geese nests without permission from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. USFWS (United States Fish and Wildlife Service).
You might learn more about ducks in Connecticut or swans in Connecticut if you enjoy seeing waterbirds in Connecticut.
You should learn more about ducks in Connecticut or swans in Connecticut if you like seeing waterbirds in the state.
10 Types Of Geese In Connecticut:
1. Canada Goose
In Connecticut, Canada geese may be seen year-round and are a frequent sight. They are seen in 20% of bird watchers’ summer and 25% of their winter checklists for the state, according to records.
The Canada Goose is a large, long-necked goose with a black head and a clearly visible white chin strap that is easily recognized.
Canada Geese have a long, elegant neck and huge size that set them apart from Cackling Geese, who have a short, shrill neck and tiny chin strap.
Brown with a tan or pale chest and a white rump, their bodies are brown. The bodies of the subspecies might be gray or brown in color. They have black webbed feet and legs.
- Branta canadensis
- Length: 25 – 45 in (64 – 114 cm)
- Weight: 230.09 oz (6521 g)
- Wingspan: 70 – 75 in (178 – 190 cm)
Canada Geese are flock that breed in Canada and travel to southern US states for the winter, but those in northern US states remain year-round and do not migrate. Western Europe is also home to these animals.
Canada Geese can be found in almost every habitat. They’re frequently seen near lakes and rivers, especially when there’s a lot of food around. They thrive in urban settings such as city parks, reservoirs, golf courses, public parks, and beaches since they are also used to humans.
Their population has grown significantly in certain areas, and they’re considered pests.
When on land, Canada Geese eat grasses, while on the water, they feed on tiny aquatic insects and fish. While they’re on agricultural fields, they also eat wheat, rice, and corn. Humans providing them food or digging through trash cans are things they are used to.
Canada Goose nests are frequently found near water in elevated areas. A nest constructed of plant materials and down may hold up to nine eggs. For about a month, she makes sure the eggs are incubated safely while the male is nearby.
Their parents take them to a meal place where they learn to feed themselves after they hatch. When parents sense danger or threats to their family, they are fiercely territorial and violent.
Fun Fact: Adults lose their flying feathers during the breeding season, since it corresponds with their molting season. Just in time for them to fly with their young, they have to regrow their feathers over the next twenty to forty days.
2. Brant
All year in Connecticut, Brant Geese may be seen. Summer checklists have 2%, whereas winter checklists have 5%.
A small goose with a black head, neck, and chest, a white collar or marking on the neck, and a white rump, the Brant Goose is a little goose. Moreover, many subspecies exist, with varying degrees of whiteness or darkness.
- Branta bernicla
- Length: 22 – 26 in (56 – 66 cm)
- Weight: 63.84 oz (1809 g)
- Wingspan: 43 – 48 in (109 – 122 cm)
Before migrating to coastal regions of the United States and Mexico, Brant Geese graze in Canada and Alaska. Europe is also home to them.
During the breeding season, Brant Geese can be found in tundra, marshes, islands, and coastal regions. Salt marshes, lagoons, mudflats, and tidal estuaries are where they spend the winter.
Both on land and in water, Brant geese feed mostly on plant matter. They prefer eelgrass, but they’ll eat any grass that’s available. Sedges, pondweed, and aquatic insects are also eaten by them.
Brant Goose nests are frequently found on tiny islands in tundra lakes or atop hills. They’re made of down-lined grass bowls.
The female lays seven eggs, which take three to four weeks to incubate. The parents take the young to the feeding location after they have hatched, where they can feed themselves.
Fun Fact: Brant geese may live up to 28 years in the wild.
3. Snow Goose
Snow Geese are most commonly seen throughout winter, from September through mid-June, and are well known to frequent Connecticut.
Except for its black wingtips, pink beak, and pink legs and feet, the Snow Goose is appropriately called because it is completely white.
The Blue Goose, which has a white head and a dark blue-gray body, is another variation of the same species. Due to their feeding, both forms of the Snow Geese may acquire a “stained” head.
Both versions have the same sex, however they may be of various sizes. Males outnumber females in terms of size.
Juvenile white morphs are dark gray, while juvenile blue morphs are dusky gray-brown. The distinctive pink beak and black grin patch are still present on both.
- Anser caerulescens
- Length: 25 – 31 in (64 – 79 cm)
- Weight: 81.13 oz (2299 g)
- Wingspan: 54.3 in (138 cm)
Snow Geese spend the winter in the United States, where they breed mostly in Canada.
In freshwater marshes and agricultural grain fields, you may see Snow Geese and Blue Geese together. Salt marshes and coastal coves are preferred in the winter, although they will visit plowed fields or wetlands.
The herbivorous Snow Geese are voracious eaters. Water-logged soil or shallow water is a regular food source for them. Plant vegetation like grasses, sedges, willows, rushes, and horsetails are among the foods they enjoy. Seeds, grains, and plants ripped up by their roots will also be eaten.
Snow Goose nests are often seen in large colonies on tundra. Because females return to the place where they hatched to breed, they build a nest, which is typically a shallow depression on the ground that they reuse multiple times.
She lines the nest with grasses and down after she lays the first three to five eggs. Goslings hatch after a twenty-four-day period of incubation, and they can survive on their own after that.
Fun Fact: During breeding, snow geese pick the same hue morph as themselves and mate for life.
4. Greater White-fronted Goose
From October through April, Greater White-fronted Geese spend the winter in Connecticut. They are not particularly frequent.
White-fronted Goose is the European name for the Greater White-fronted Goose, while Greater Whitefront is the North American name.
Greater White-fronted Geese are both rather huge geese, and both sexes seem similar.
They are occasionally mistaken for the Graylag Goose because of their barred feathers, which are mostly gray all-over. The white front, or the white feathers that surround the base of their orange beak, is what distinguishes them. Their underbelly has black specks as well.
- Anser albifrons
- Length: 26 – 34 in (66 -86 cm)
- Weight: 126.98 oz (3599 g)
- Wingspan: 53 – 60 in (135 – 152 cm)
Greater White-fronted Geese breed and migrate to the United States and Mexico throughout the winter in North America. They can be found across Europe and east Asia, though.
Greater White-fronted Geese spend the winter along the West Coast of the United States, The Gulf Coast, and Mexico, where they breed in the west of northern Canada.
During the breeding season, Greater White-fronted Geese can be found in marshy tundra, wetlands, rivers, and ponds. Agricultural fields, marshes, bays, and lakes are where they spend the winter.
Both land and water are used by Greater White-fronted Geese. They eat agricultural fields’ seeds and grains. Grasses and berries are also part of their diets. They forage for aquatic insects and mollusks while near water.
In shallow depressions in the tundra, Greater White-fronted Geese nests may be found. They typically contain three to six eggs and are lined with grass and down. For two to three weeks, the female incubates them.
Fun Fact: The long-term family bonds of Greater White-fronted Geese are formed. The young remain with their parents until the following breeding season, when they migrate together, even with their offspring.
5. Cackling Goose
Some cackling geese spend the winter in Connecticut, from October to mid-April, although they are not often seen.
The Cackling Goose looks a lot like Canada Geese, and it’s native to North America. They were established as a separate species in 2004, after being classified as part of the Canada Goose family.
The heads and necks of cackling geese are black, while the chinstrap is white. Their receipts are small, black, and triangular in shape. They have white edging all over and are light brown or tan in color.
Cackling Geese, on the other hand, have shorter necks and stubbier bills than Canada Geese.
The white chinstrap subspecies is one of four subspecies with black heads and necks, each of which differs slightly in size and color.
- Branta hutchinsii
- Length: 22 – 30 in (56 – 76 cm)
- Weight: 105.9 oz (3001 g)
- Wingspan: 43 – 47 in (109 – 119 cm)
Canada and Alaska are home to cackling geese, who migrate to the United States during the winter.
Every year, wetlands and meadows are home to Cackling Geese. Throughout the winter, they often join flocks and mingle with other geese in ponds, marshes, and fields, but during the summer, they prefer the tundra.
Cackling Geese eat sedges and berries in open areas and graze on grasses. In agricultural fields, they will also eat wheat, barley, beans, rice, and corn crops. They consume aquatic plants while in the water.
Cackling Goose nests may be found singly or in groups. They’re usually found at a shallow depth near the water, although they’re sometimes found at a slight height. The nests are made of plant materials and down by the females. She will lay up to eight eggs in it and stay there for approximately a month while they incubate.
Fun Fact: Cackling Geese are easily recognized from Canada Geese by their distinct cackling voice or high-pitched cry.
6. Pink-footed Goose
Throughout the winter months of November through March, Pink-footed Geese may be found in Connecticut, and they are considered uncommon or accidental species.
The Pink-footed Goose has pink feet and legs, like its cousins the Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese, but it is also commonly mistaken with them. While they may appear similar,
Brown heads, short black beaks with a pink band in the middle, blue-gray backs and wings, light-brown throats, breasts, bellies with a barring pattern, white rumps and pink legs and toes.
Juveniles are dark brown with a more obvious scaled design on their sides, flanks, and backs. Males and females appear similar, but juveniles are different.
- Anser brachyrhynchus
- Length: 26 in (66 cm)
- Weight: 97.6 0z (2766 g)
- Wingspan: 53 – 67 in (135 – 170 cm)
Pink-footed Geese live in the northeast United States throughout the winter. Greenland and Europe, on the other hand, are home to most of them.
Open tundra, huge estuaries, agricultural farmland, and rocky outcrops and crags are all good places to find Pink-footed Geese.
In the summer, Pink-footed Geese eat a broad range of tundra flora, both on land and in water, whereas in the winter they feed primarily on grains, sugar beets, and potatoes from agricultural fields.
In the summer, Pink-footed Geese eat a broad range of tundra plants, whether on land or in water, and in the winter, they mainly eat agricultural grains and sugar beets.
Pink-footed Geese nests are frequently found on islands in lakes and on rocks near glaciers. To avoid predatory assaults, they need a secure habitat for nesting. Simple, shallow scrapes in the earth lined with moss and down are called nests.
For about four weeks, the female incubates three to five eggs. The juvenile goslings accompany their parents to the closest lake for food after the eggs hatch.
Fun Fact: Pink-footed Geese, despite their size, help farmers by eating the leaves and roots of sugar beets and potatoes after harvesting. They may cause damage to crops while feeding. Crop diseases are therefore less likely to spread.
7. Barnacle Goose
In Connecticut, Barnacle Geese are considered uncommon or accidental, but they may be seen from October to March.
The medium-sized yet delicate-appearing Barnacle Goose is a goose species. Their bills are small and black, their head, neck, and upper chest are black, their bellies are white, and their wings and back are silver-gray with black and white stripes.
V-shaped rumps and silver-gray linings are visible while in flight.
- Branta leucopsis
- Length: 23 – 28 in (58 – 71 cm)
- Weight: 62.4 oz (1768 g)
- Wingspan: 52 – 56 in (132 – 142 cm)
The North Atlantic is the home of Barnacle Geese, who breed and spend the winter in various regions of eastern Canada and the US.
Salt marshes, grassy meadows, pastureland, and agricultural fields are all good places to look for Barnacle Geese. They prefer to live on islets, islands, and near-shore cliff ledges throughout the breeding season.
Whether in tundra, near water, or in agricultural lands, Barnacle Geese prefer to eat grass. When near water, they feed on aquatic plants and insects, as well as crops and grains in fields.
To keep the eggs safe from predators, Barnacle Goose nests are frequently built on cliff ledges. The nest is lined with soft down feathers and constructed by the female using mud and dead leaves.
For twenty-five days, the female incubates her five eggs. The juvenile are taken to marshes with plenty of vegetation after the eggs have hatched, where they may feed themselves. After roughly 45 days in the nest, they fledge.
Fun Fact: The term “Barnacle Goose” originates from a Medieval Legend in which barnacles are said to be their parents.
8. Ross’s Goose
In Connecticut, Ross’ geese are an uncommon stray species that is considered accidental. Nonetheless, from December through mid-April, you may see some in the state.
Snow Geese, with whom Ross’s geese often congregate, are comparable to Ross’s geese. Except for their short, gray-based red-orange bills, pink-red legs and feet, and black wingtips, they are completely white. The female is somewhat smaller than the male.
Ross’ Goose has a dark phase variation, however it’s very uncommon. It has blackish cheeks, underparts, and back with a white head and a brownish beak with a red patch.
- Anser rossii
- Length: 21 – 26 in (53 – 66 cm)
- Weight: 59.2 oz (1678 g)
- Wingspan: 47 – 54 in (119 – 137 cm)
Ross’ Geese live in the United States during the winter and breed in northern Canada.
During the winter, you may see Ross’ Geese in both salt and freshwater marshes. They will nest on the arctic tundra during the breeding season.
Ross’s geese feed on grass, sedges, and small grains found in wetlands, meadows, and fields. They are grazers that feed on grasses and sedges.
In colonies on lake islands and arctic tundra, nests of Ross’ Geese may be found. Females create nests out of downy grasses, moss, leaves, and sticks placed on the ground. Each breeding female utters four to five eggs, which she incubates for three weeks.
Fun Fact: The geese of Ross are the tiniest in North America.
9. Graylag Goose
In Connecticut, Whitelag Geese are an accidental species. They’ve only been seen around McKenzie Reservoir in 2009, and they’re extremely uncommon in the state.
Most breeds of domestic goose are thought to be descended from the Graylag Goose (Greylag Goose). The bill is pinkish-orange, and the legs are dull pink. They’re generally dark gray all over, with a white tip on the end.
Females are somewhat smaller than males, although both sexes appear similar.
- Anser anser
- Length: 34 in (86.36 cm)
- Weight: 76 oz (2154 g)
- Wingspan: 66 in (167.6 cm)
Domesticated geese, such as Greylag Geese, may be too big to fly in North America. Because they are native to Europe, wild ones are uncommon.
During the breeding season, Graylag Geese may be found in marshes, lakes, and reservoirs. They favor reeds, rushes, and bushes because they prefer habitats with thick ground cover. Saltwater marshes, bogs, and even agricultural land are home to them throughout the winter.
Both land and water are sources of food for Greylag Geese. They feed on grass with sheep or cows on land and graze in pastures. Cereals, such as oats, wheat, and barley, are also eaten by them in fields and farmlands.
Graylag Geese eat aquatic plants and insects like tiny fish, amphibians, crustaceans, mollusks, and flies when they are near or on the water.
Graylag Goose nests are typically located among towering reeds or bushes on the ground. The female lays four to six eggs, with the last egg being placed before incubation begins. For about a week, she will sit on the eggs while the male protects the area.
Fun Fact: Graylag Goose feathers were utilized to fletch arrows and were utilized as quill pens.
10. Egyptian Goose
Only two Egyptian Geese have been seen in Connecticut, both of which were seen around Sherwood Island State Park in 2013 and South Cove in 2015.
The Egyptian Goose is a beautiful bird that has expanded to invasive population levels in several nations, especially zoos and aviaries.
Egyptian Geese have several features that distinguish them from other species. A brown patch surrounds their golden-yellow or orange eyes. Their bills are pink on top and black on the bottom, and their heads are white-gray with crimson hues at the nape.
The collar is crimson-brown in color. Their backs and wings are a combination of white, green, brown, and black. Their breasts are tan, their bellies are white with gray linings, and their backs and wings are a mix of white and green. Pink legs and feet are visible on them.
The head and neck of juveniles are darker reddish-brown. Their bellies are usually light brown or tan. Dark brown backs and wings distinguish them.
- Alopochen aegyptiaca
- Length: 24 – 29 in (61 – 74 cm)
- Weight: 70 – 77.5 oz (1984 – 2196 g)
- Wingspan: 52 – 60 in (132 – 152 cm)
Egyptian Geese have a population in Europe and North America, despite their African origins.
Egyptian Goose may be found in open water, marshland, and non-forested areas. Zoos and aviaries are also common places to keep them.
Seeds, leaves, grasses, and plant stems are all favorites of Egyptian geese. Algae and aquatic plants, as well as insects and tiny animals, will be eaten by them.
Egyptian Goose nests may be found on the ground, in tree hollows, caverns, and other creatures’ nests. The nests, which have a capacity of twenty-two eggs and take around a month to develop, are primarily constructed of grasses, leaves, and down.
The young will be cared for by their parents, but they will also have to learn how to feed themselves.
Fun Fact: Ancient Egypt saw the Egyptian Goose as a holy bird, and they are represented in a lot of their paintings.