This guide will teach you how to identify the various geese seen in Louisiana, as well as when and where you are most likely to see them. It will also include some interesting information.
Louisiana has been home to eight of the thirteen species of geese identified in North America. Except for Canada Geese, who may be seen all year, they are generally visitors in the winter. Vagrants are also found in three different species.
A gaggle is a group of geese. Have you heard of the terms shien, wedge, and plump that are given to geese?
In addition, due to their territorial habits and loud honking, they have been employed as guards to safeguard pets, people, and even nations for centuries!
In the United States, it is illegal to harm geese, their eggs, or their nests without authority from the government. USFWS, or Fish and Wild Service.
You might want to learn more about ducks in Louisiana or swans in Louisiana if you enjoy seeing waterbirds.
8 Types Of Geese In Louisiana:
1. Canada Goose
Throughout the year, Canada geese can be seen in Louisiana. Summer checklists with them include 3% of bird watchers’ submissions, while winter checklists with them include 6%.
The Canada Goose is a huge, long-necked goose with a black head and a distinct white chin strap that is easily identified.
Canada Geese have a black head and white chin strap, as well as a long, elegant neck and considerable stature, that distinguish them from Cackling Geese.
The chest and rump are brown, and their bodies are covered in a tan or pale layer. Among the subspecies, the bodies may range in color from gray to brown. They feature black legs and webbed feet.
- Branta canadensis
- Length: 25 – 45 in (64 – 114 cm)
- Weight: 230.09 oz (6521 g)
- Wingspan: 70 – 75 in (178 – 190 cm)
Canada Geese, as the name implies, raise their young in Canada and go south for the winter, but they stay in northern states all year and do not go. Western Europe is also home to these creatures.
Canada Geese may be found all over the place. They’re most often seen near lakes and rivers, in general, around places with both a body of water and plenty of food. They also live comfortably in urban habitats like city parks, reservoirs, golf courses, public parks, and beaches since they are also used to humans.
Their numbers have increased significantly in some areas, and they’ve become pests.
When on the ground, Canada Geese eat grasses, while on the water, they eat little aquatic insects and fish. While on agricultural fields, they also eat wheat, rice, and corn. They’re used to raiding dumpsters for food or plucking it from humans’ plates.
Canada Geese nests are frequently found on high ground near water. A nest made of plant materials and down is used by the female to lay up to nine eggs. The male stays nearby, protecting the eggs, while she incubates them for around a month.
Their parents bring them to a meal source where they can learn to feed themselves after they hatch. When they sense danger or threats to their family, parents are extremely territorial and violent.
Fun Fact: Since the breeding season and their molting season are both during the year, adults lose their flight feathers. Just in time for them to fly with their young, they need to regrow their feathers after twenty to forty days.
2. Snow Goose
Snow Geese are seen in 6% of winter checklists and are most common from November to March in Louisiana. Yet, others may be seen all year in the state.
Except for its black wingtips, pink beak with a black grin patch, and pink legs and feet, the Snow Goose is appropriately named.
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 Snow Goose variations may have a “stained” head on occasion.
Both forms have the same sex, but they may be of varying sizes. Males outnumber females in terms of size.
Dusky gray-brown pigmentation characterizes juvenile white morphs, while dark gray characterizes juvenile blue morphs. Despite this, they retain their distinctive pink beak and black grin patch.
- 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 primarily.
In freshwater marshes and agricultural grain fields, you might see Snow Geese and Blue Geese together. They prefer salt marshes and coastal coves in the winter, but they’ll visit plowed fields or wetlands as well.
Snow geese are herbivorous and eaters that are ravenous. Water-logged soil or shallow water is frequently eaten by them. Plant vegetation, such as grasses, sedges, willows, rushes, and horsetails, are their favorite foods. Seeds, grains, and plants ripped up by their roots will also be eaten.
Snow Goose nests are often discovered in large colonies on tundra. Since females return to the spot where they hatched to breed, the female creates a nest, which is normally a shallow depression on the ground.
She lines the nest with grasses and down once she has placed the first three to five eggs. Goslings can survive on their own after around twenty-four days of incubation.
Fun Fact: When Snow Geese breed, they pick the same hue morph as themselves, and they mate for life.
3. Greater White-fronted Goose
Greater White-fronted Geese are seen in 4% of checklists during the winter in Louisiana, from October to February. They do, however, visit the island throughout the year.
White-fronted Goose in Europe and Greater Whitefront in North America are the two common names for this species.
Greater White-fronted Geese are large geese that appear to be similar in both sexes.
They are frequently mistaken for the Graylag Goose because their barred feathers are mostly gray all-over. The white front, or the white feathers that surround the base of its orange beak, sets them apart. Their underparts are also covered in black flecks.
- 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 in Canada and go to the United States and Mexico for the winter in North America. Yet, Europe and east Asia are also home to them.
Greater White-fronted Geese breed in the west of Canada and spend the winter on the United States’ West Coast, as well as Mexico’s Gulf Coast.
During the breeding season, you may see Greater White-fronted Geese in marshy tundra, marshes, 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. Agricultural fields provide them with food such as seeds and grains. Grasses and berries are also eaten by them. They forage for aquatic insects and mollusks when near water.
Greater White-fronted Geese nests may be discovered in tundra depressions, in shallow depressions. They have three to six eggs and are covered in grass and down. For two to three weeks, the female incubates them.
Fun Fact: Greater White-fronted Geese have long-term family relationships. Even when they migrate with their offspring, the young stay with their parents during the following breeding season.
4. Ross’s Goose
In Louisiana, Ross’s geese are seen between November and April and are winter birds. Only 2% of winter checklists include them.
Snow Geese, with whom Ross’ geese often flock, are similar to Ross’ geese. Except for their small, gray-based red-orange beaks, pink-red legs and feet, and black wingtips, they are completely white all over. The female is somewhat smaller than the male.
Ross’ Goose has a dark phase variant, however it is exceedingly uncommon. It has a white head, a brownish beak with a crimson patch, black gray throats, underparts, and back.
- Anser rossii
- Length: 21 – 26 in (53 – 66 cm)
- Weight: 59.2 oz (1678 g)
- Wingspan: 47 – 54 in (119 – 137 cm)
The Ross’ Geese, which spend the winter in the United States, are a northern Canadian breed.
In winter, Ross’s Geese can be found in both salt and freshwater marshes. They will build nests on the arctic tundra throughout the breeding season.
In colonies on lake islands and arctic tundra, Ross’ Geese nests may be seen. Females use grasses, moss, leaves, and twigs to line the inside of their nests, which are built on the ground. Each female breeds four to five eggs, which she incubates for three weeks.
Fun Fact: The geese of Ross are the tiniest in North America.
5. Cackling Goose
During the winter months of October through March, Cackling Geese are frequently seen in Louisiana, although they are not particularly common.
Canada Geese are Cackling Geese, which are native to North America. They were first classified as a Canada Goose subspecies in 2004, and then promoted to full species.
The head and neck of Cackling Geese are black, with a white chinstrap patch. Their checks are small, black, and triangular in shape. They’re white-spotted all over and are light brown or tan in color.
Cackling Geese, on the other hand, have stubbier bills, steeper foreheads, and shorter necks than Canada Geese. They are smaller in size.
The white chinstrap subspecies, for example, has slight variations in size or coloring, but all have the distinctive black heads and necks.
- Branta hutchinsii
- Length: 22 – 30 in (56 – 76 cm)
- Weight: 105.9 oz (3001 g)
- Wingspan: 43 – 47 in (109 – 119 cm)
Cackling Geese migrate to the United States for the winter after breeding in Canada and Alaska.
Cackling Geese may be seen in wetlands and fields all year. During winter, they often join flocks and blend with other geese in lakes, marshes, and fields, while during the summer they prefer to stay on the tundra.
In wetlands and meadows, you may see Cackling Geese year-round. In winter, they often join flocks and mingle with other geese in lakes, marshes, and fields, but in the summer, they prefer the tundra.
Cackling Geese graze on grasses and eat berries in open areas while foraging. In agricultural fields, they will also devour crops like wheat, barley, beans, rice, and corn. They eat aquatic plants in the water.
Cackling Goose nests may be found individually or in groups. They’re often found near the water, in a shallow depression but slightly elevated. Plant materials and down are used by the females to build nests. She will incubate up to eight eggs in it for around a month and lay them.
Fun Fact: Cackling Geese are distinguished from Canada Geese by their distinctive “cackling” voice or high-pitched call.
6. Egyptian Goose
In Louisiana, Egyptian geese are an accidental species. They were last seen in Ascension in 2020 and are extremely rare in the state.
The Egyptian Goose, which has become invasive in many nations, is an attractive bird that can be found in zoos and aviaries.
Egyptian Geese have a lot of characteristics that set them apart 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 whitish-gray with some reddish tints at the nape.
The neck is crimson-brown in color. Their backs and wings are a mix of white, green, brown, and black, with their breasts being tan and their bellies being white with gray linings. Pink feet and legs are visible.
The head and nape of juveniles are a deeper reddish-brown color. Their bellies are generally pale or light brown in color. Dark brown back 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 populations in Europe and North America, despite their African origin.
Egyptian Goose may be found near water in open, wetlands, and non-forested areas. Zoos and aviaries are also common places for them to be kept.
Seeds, leaves, grasses, and plant stems are all favorites of Egyptian Geese. Algae and aquatic plants, as well as insects and small animals, will be devoured.
On the ground and in hollows of trees, caves, and other animals’ nests, Egyptian Geese nests can be found. The nests, which typically contain twenty-two eggs and take around a month to hatch, are mostly made of grasses, leaves, and down.
The young must learn to feed themselves, but the adults will take care of them.
Fun Fact: Ancient Egypt regarded the Egyptian Goose to be a holy bird, and it is depicted in a lot of their paintings.
7. Barnacle Goose
In Louisiana, Barnacle Geese are exceptionally uncommon, with just two sightings in 2010 and 2014 at Kenner City Park.
The medium-sized yet delicate-looking Barnacle Geese are a kind of goose. Their bills are short and black, with a white face, silver-gray wings and back, and a black head, neck, and upper chest. Their bellies are white.
V-shaped rumps and silver-gray linings may be seen 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 home to barnacle geese, who breed and spend the winter in eastern Canada and the United States.
Salt marshes, grassy fields, pastureland, and agricultural fields are all home to Barnacle Geese. They prefer to live on islets, islands, and cliff ledges adjacent to the shore throughout the breeding season.
Whether on tundra, near water, or in agricultural areas, Barnacle Geese eat mostly grass. When near water, they feed on aquatic vegetation, insects, and crops and grains in fields.
The female lays five eggs and incubates them for twenty-five days. When the eggs hatch, the young are led to marshes with plenty of vegetation so that they can feed themselves. They fledge after about forty-five days.
For twenty-five days, the female incubates the eggs she has laid. The young are taken to marshes with abundant vegetation after the eggs hatch, where they can feed themselves. After around 45 days, they fledge.
Fun Fact: The name Barnacle Goose comes from a Medieval Legend that claims that they originated from Barnacles.
8. Brant
In Louisiana, Brant Geese are considered an accidental species, and they haven’t been seen here for a long time, according to records.
A black head, neck, and chest, a white collar or marking on the neck, and a white rump distinguish the Brant Goose from other geese. Several sub-species, however, include varying degrees of lighter or darker pigmentation.
- 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 breed in Canada and Alaska. In addition, they reside throughout Europe.
During the breeding season, Brant Geese may be found in tundra, marshes, islands, and coastal regions. Salt marshes, lagoons, mudflats, and tidal estuaries are where they spend the winter.
On land and in water, Brant geese primarily eat plant matter. Eelgrass is their preferred food, although any grass will do. Sedges, pondweed, and aquatic insects are among the foods they consume.
In tundra ponds or in elevated places, Brant Geese nests are commonly situated on small islands. Grass bowls with down-lined bottoms.
The female lays seven eggs that take three to four weeks to hatch. The parents escort the juveniles to the feeding place after the eggs have hatched.
Fun Fact: Brant Geese may live up to 28 years in the wild.