There is a lot of variety when it comes to geese in the state of Utah.
Some are migratory, while others stay year-round. They all have different diets and can be found in different parts of the state, find out all below!
What Geese Are in Utah?
There are six different types of geese in Utah.
- Canada Goose
- Snow Goose
- Ross’s Goose
- Cackling Goose
- Greater White-Fronted Goose
- Brant
There are also two species of swans in Utah – Tundra Swans and Trumpeter Swans.
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
The Canada goose is the most common goose species in North America. These birds are easily recognizable thanks to their black heads and necks, white chins, and brown bodies.
- Scientific Name: Branta canadensis
- Height: 75 to 110 cm (30 to 43 in)
- Wingspan: 127–185 cm (50–73 in)
- Weight: Usual: 2.6–6.5 kg (5.7–14.3 lb); Average: 3.9 kg (8.6 lb)
Canada Goose Description
Canada goose is a large water bird that has a black head and neck, white cheeks, and a brownish-gray body. They have webbed feet and can be seen on lakes, ponds, and rivers throughout the United States in summer.
Canada Goose Sound
Canada Goose Habitat & Range
Their habitat includes grasslands, marshes, open woodland areas, and agricultural fields including cornfields where they eat the seeds on the ground.
They are often found near lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes, and open fields where they feed on grasses, aquatic plants, small animals, insects, and grain crops.
Canada Goose Diet
Canada geese are popular game birds; they are also used for their feathers and leather. Their diet consists mainly of plant material including grasses and grains, but occasionally insect larvae and worms.
Canada Goose Nesting
Canada geese typically mate for life and often return to the same nesting site year after year. These birds build their nests on the ground, near water sources such as lakes or ponds.
During the nesting season, female Canada geese will lay between three and eight eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the goslings will stay with their parents until they are ready to migrate in the autumn.
Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)
The Snow Goose is one of the most abundant geese in North America, and has been hunted heavily for its meat by humans for centuries; its population has declined significantly since the 1960s due to hunting pressure and habitat loss caused by human activity. These birds are also known to migrate long distances, often flying over 2000 miles in a single journey! They are very social animals, and can be found in flocks of thousands during migration season.
- Scientific Name: Anser caerulescens
- Height: 64 to 79 cm (25 to 31 in.)
- Wingspan: 135 to 165 cm (53 to 65 in)
- Weight: 2.05 to 2.7 kg (4.5 to 6.0 lb)
Snow Goose Description
The snow goose is a large waterfowl that has white plumage with black wingtips and is a species of goose native to North America, the tundra, and grasslands. It has a black neck, white cheeks, and a pale gray belly. It also has a black bill with a yellow tip. Its feet are orange to dull greenish yellow. They are large birds, averaging between 3.2-4.9 kg and often exhibit black bars on their wings and a white patch on the rump.
Snow Goose Sound
Snow Goose Habitat & Range
These birds are capable of flying for long distances without getting rest. It is one of the few species that can fly non-stop for 3,000 miles without stopping for rest or food.
They are mostly found in the Arctic areas, including North America, Greenland and Canada, where their numbers have increased in recent years due to conservation efforts to protect them from extinction.
They migrate south during the winter months when food supplies are scarce.
Snow Goose Diet
They have been known to eat a variety of foods including seeds, roots and tubers as well as insects, snails and small fish. The Snow Goose is one of the few species of geese that have been observed using tools to help them catch prey. They have been seen using sticks or stones as weapons or shields when hunting for food!
They can also dive underwater to get food which means they don’t need to eat on land all the time like other birds do (they can just swim around until they find something they like).
Snow Goose Nesting
Snow geese are known to mate for life. A male will typically find two or three females depending on his age and experience level as a hunter-gatherer type personality. A female may lay up to 14 eggs at once but usually, only 1 or 2 survive because of predators such as other birds like raptors and even humans who hunt them down during hunting season!
Ross’s Goose (Anser Rossii)
Ross’s Goose is an excellent flier but is known for being rather clumsy on land due to its short legs and long body. The wings are broad and have white tips, which are visible when flying overhead or from afar as they flap their wings rapidly while flying low over water bodies such as lakes or rivers (where many other geese stop for food sources). They also make loud honking calls that sound like “honk-honk-honk” while flying overhead; this call seems fitting considering how clumsy they are on land!
- Scientific Name: Anser rossii
- Height: Male: 23.2-25.2 in (59–64 cm) / Female: 22.6-24.4 in (57.3–62 cm)
- Wingspan: 44.5-45.7 in (113–116 cm)
- Weight: Male: 42.3-55.3 oz (1198-1567 g) / Female: 37.6–51.3 oz (1066–1454 g)
Ross’s Goose Description
A mallard-sized white goose with black wingtips and tail, a relatively short neck, and a pink bill and the legs are pink. Very similar to the Snow Goose, which it is often seen with, but is smaller with a smaller bill and a rounder head.
Ross’s Goose Sound
Ross’s Goose Habitat & Range
This bird can be found in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and the Arctic tundra of North America and Eurasia during the summer months.
However, during the winter months, it migrates south to California, Mexico, and Texas where they spend time from November through March each year before returning north again when spring arrives again.
Ross’s Goose Diet
In the summer months, it lives in wetlands, lakes, and rivers where it feeds on aquatic plants. In the winter it moves south to warmer climates where it feeds on grasses, grains, and other types of vegetation. The Ross’s Goose has a unique diet, which includes small fish and insects.
Ross’s Goose Nesting
The Ross’s goose nests near water, often on islands or peninsulas. The nest is a scrape in the ground, lined with vegetation. The female lays three to seven eggs.
Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii)
Once considered part of the Canada Goose species, this has now been classified as a distinct species in its own right. It’s high pitched voice distinguishes it from the Canada goose which has a much lower pitched honk.
- Scientific Name: Branta hutchinsii
- Height: 24.8–25.6 in (63–65 cm)
- Wingspan: 43 inches
- Weight: 3.5 lbs
Cackling Goose Description
Very similar to the Canada Goose, but they have rounder heads and shorter bills. On the dark coast the birds are darker than those found on the east coast. The head is black with a white chin or neck strap, with a greyish brown body and black legs, feet and bill.
Listen to Cackling Goose
Cackling Goose Habitat and Range
The Cackling Goose’s breeding habitat is wet meadows near lakes or ponds where they feed on grasses, sedges, and other plants. They nest on the ground in areas that are often flooded by water during the spring months.
In the late summer months when the breeding season has ended, cackling geese will migrate southward towards warmer climates in order to escape cold weather conditions found further north.
Cackling Goose Diet
Cackling Geese are omnivores which means they eat both plants as well as seeds, roots, small animals such as insects or worms, and grasses during the summer months, and crustaceans such as clams or snails. However, their main source of food comes from grazing on grasses along marshes or fields which can be found near large bodies of water such as lakes or rivers.
Cackling Goose Nesting
Only females incubate the eggs (laying between 2-8) and the goslings leave the nest within 24 hours, and fledge at 6 weeks, though they stay with the family for migration.
Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)
The Greater White-fronted goose is named after the white patch at the top of its bill. These are medium-sized geese. It is named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill. In fact, albifrons comes from the Latin albus “white” and frons “forehead”.
- Scientific Name: Anser albifrons
- Height: 64–81 cm (25–32 in)
- Wingspan: 130–165 cm (51–65 in)
- Weight: 1.93–3.31 kg (4 lb 4 oz – 7 lb 5 oz)
Greater White-fronted Goose Description
The Greater White-fronted Goose is a dusky-brown goose with a long, thin neck and a small bill. It is characterized by its white belly and white patch on its face with orange legs. The bill is pinkish or orange with a white tip.
Listen to Greater White-fronted Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose Habitat & Range
The Greater White-fronted Goose is native to the northern hemisphere in North America and Eurasia. They are found in open areas such as grasslands, wetlands, taiga, arctic tundra, and alpine meadows, pond edges and lakeshores during the summer months and migrate south for the winter months. They prefer to nest on tundra or lakeshores but will nest on rocky beaches if necessary.
The Greater White-fronted Goose can be found in the Arctic tundra of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are migratory birds that breed in Canada, the United States, Iceland, and Greenland. In the winter they migrate south to Northern Africa and southern Europe.
Greater White-fronted Goose Diet
They prefer grassy areas with some water nearby for food sources but can also adapt to other habitats. They also feed on plants such as sedges, grasses, rushes and other aquatic plants as well as insects such as beetles and spiders that live in these habitats. They also eat insects such as moths and worms as well as small frogs or fish.
Greater White-fronted Nesting
The population of Greater White-fronted Geese is estimated at around 10 million birds worldwide which makes them one of the most abundant geese species! They lay 5-6 cream colored eggs in grassy sections.
Brant (Branta bernicla)
The black brant is the smallest and darkest member of the ” true geese ” (i.e., those belonging to the genus Branta ), with a body length of 50–60 cm (20–24 in). It has a short, stout bill and legs, and is slightly smaller than the Canada goose. The black brant is a gregarious bird, forming large flocks outside the breeding season. It feeds on grasses and other aquatic plants, and will uproot crops if its numbers are high enough.
- Scientific Name: Branta bernicla
- Height: 55–66 cm (22–26 in)
- Wingspan: 106–121 cm (42–48 in)
- Weight: 0.88–2.2 kg (1.9–4.9 lb)
Brant Description
The Brant is similar to the Canada Goose with a black head and neck with a white neck collar, but is smaller with a shorter neck, with dark bellies. There are several subspecies which have different coloration on the bellies and sides, known tas the Black Brant or the Pacific Brant, the Pale-bellied Brant or Atlantic Brant and the dark bellied brant breeds of Europe.
Listen to Brant
Brant Habitat & Range
The brant goose is a migratory bird, wintering in southern Europe, Africa, and western Asia. It is an occasional vagrant to North America, where it is most often seen in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.
It can be found in North America and spends most of its time in coastal waters. Brant migrate from their wintering grounds back to their breeding grounds each year.
Brant Diet
Most brant geese feed only on a single species of seagrass, known as eelgrass. They also eat sea lettuce, but their primary food source is eelgrass. They prefer eating at night because it’s easier to spot prey when it’s dark out (they have poor eyesight). Brant prefers living near bodies of water such as lakes or oceans because they need water to survive – without it, they would die within days.
Brant Nesting
Females lay 3-5 eggs in a nest of moss and down.
Where to Watch Geese in Utah?
One great place to watch snow geese in the state of Utah is Gunnison Bend Reservoir.
The reservoir is located in the western part of the state, and it is a prime breeding ground for snow geese.
Every year, thousands of snow geese migrate to the reservoir to nest and raise their young. Interestingly, snow geese don’t utilize the vast Bear River Bird Refuge, which is located in northern Utah, about an hour north of Salt Lake City, during their spring migration.
Are There Any Resident Flocks of Geese In Utah?
Canada geese are a common sight in Utah, and they can be found in a variety of habitats and the state offers them dense vegetation.
Farmington Bay and the Great Salt Lake are popular areas for geese, as the shallow water and plentiful food make ideal conditions for raising their young.
Farm fields and golf courses are also popular places for geese to live, as they provide plenty of open space and easy access to food.
In addition, many Utah lakes and ponds offer ideal habitats for Canada geese. The calm water and lack of predators make these bodies of water perfect for raising young and enjoying a quiet life. No matter where they end up, Canada geese are sure to find a welcoming home in Utah.
Geese Hunting in Utah
Hunting geese in Utah requires some specific gear. In addition to a hunting license and a Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP) number, you may be required to take a hunter education course by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
Can You Shoot a Goose in Utah?
Waterfowl hunting in Utah is a popular pastime, but there are some regulations that must be followed in order to ensure a safe and successful hunt.
One of the most important rules is that only a shotgun loaded with a nontoxic shot may be used.
This ensures that the ducks and geese that are shot will not be poisoned and will be safe to eat.
Another important regulation is the bag limit, which dictates how many birds may be taken in a single day.
Where Can I Hunt Geese in Utah?
Utah is a great state for hunting geese. There are many different spots that offer good opportunities for bagging a bird, but some places are better than others. Ogden Bay and Howard Slough are two of the best places to hunt geese in Utah.
Ogden Bay is a large body of water that is home to many different species of birds, including geese. The bay is located near Ogden, Utah, which makes it easy to get to.
Howard Slough is another excellent spot for hunting geese. This slough is located in northern Utah and is known for its large population of birds. It is also a beautiful place, with plenty of open space to walk around in and enjoy the scenery.
Is There a Goose Hunting Season in Utah?
For those looking to hunt geese in the state of Utah, it is important to know that there is a hunting season. October to March are the months when geese are typically hunted in Utah.
Conclusion on geese in the state of Utah
Utah is a great place for geese. They can find plenty of food and shelter here. There are also many different types of geese that live in the state, which means there is a lot of variety when it comes to these birds. If you want to see some amazing geese, come to Utah!
