The bird to check.
Snow Goose
Chen hyperborea
This medium-size goose is the most abundant member of the family and can be identified by white plumage and black wing tips. He is often called “wavy,” in the northern part of his range, while southern hunters refer to him as a “white brant.” His Latin name describes him as “a goose beyond the north wind.” We see him only as a migrant, either going to nesting grounds in Northern Canada or returning to his winter home on the coast of Louisiana and Texas. A somewhat larger relative known as the Greater Snow Goose, nests in Northern Greenland and winters along our Atlantic coast.
This bird feeds on roots and bulbs of water plants found in his wintering area. Grasses, grains or other vegetation bring huge flocks where they can be seen grazing like tame geese. Feeding flocks are not welcome to the wheat grower who has fields near lakes which are used as resting places for migrating birds.
Snow Geese often travel with their near relatives, the Blue Geese. The gray body and white head of the latter give a color contrast which is apparent in a mixed flock. These birds interbreed frequently and their offspring are confusing but usually show more white on the breast than the Blue Goose parent.
Like mammoth flakes of drifting snow
We see you come, we watch you go
We hear your call like trumpet’s blare
Which guides the flock in upper air.