Habitat
Nests in tundra marshes near water, on raised hummocks and ridges (NatureServe 2007b). In western Canadian arctic, breeds on coastal areas characterized by stretches of low sandy or silty ridges and narrow beaches interspersed with river deltas, barrier islands, spits, and lagoons with permafrost related features and an abundance of small lakes (Mowbray et al. 2000). Vegetation cover typically consists of a mosaic of dry tussock, wet sedge, and low shrub, with taller shrubs (1‐3 m) in drainage courses (Salter et al. 1980). In Manitoba, geese nesting in tall willows had better reproductive success than did geese nesting in shorter willows or in areas without willows (Jackson et al. 1988).
References
Jackson, S. L., D. S. Hik, and R. F. Rockwell. 1988. The influence of nesting habitat on reproductive success of the lesser snow goose. Can. J. Zool. 66:1699‐1703.
Mowbray, T. B., F. Cooke, and B. Ganter. 2000. Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens). In The Birds of North America, Vol. 13, No. 514 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
NatureServe. 2007b. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 6.2. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer.
Salter, R. E., M. A. Gollop, S. R. Johnson, W. R. Koski, and C. E. Tull. 1980. Distribution and abundance of birds on the arctic coastal plains of the Northern Yukon and adjacent Northwest Territories, 1971‐1976. Can. Field‐Nat. 94: 219‐238.
