Ross's Goose looks like a Snow Goose that has been shrunk down — white with black wingtips and a pink bill, but noticeably smaller, daintier, and rounder-headed, with a short, stubby bill that lacks the black "grinning patch" of the Snow Goose. This tidy little goose is essentially a miniature version of its abundant relative, and in Michigan it is a rare migrant that almost always turns up as one or a few birds mixed into flocks of Snow Geese, requiring a careful scan to detect.
Ross's Goose breeds in the central Canadian Arctic and has increased dramatically in recent decades, so it is now found more regularly among Snow Goose flocks than it once was. In Michigan it appears mostly in spring and fall on flooded fields, marshes, and grain fields, grazing alongside the larger Snow Geese. Picking out the small, short-billed, round-headed Ross's Goose from a flock of Snow Geese is a satisfying identification challenge for the state's goose watchers.
Grazes on grasses, sedges, and waste grain, feeding in flocks on flooded fields, marshes, and grain fields alongside Snow Geese. It clips green vegetation and gleans spilled grain much like other geese, building reserves for migration.
Ross's Goose is smaller and daintier with a rounder head and a short, stubby bill that lacks the black "grinning patch" seen on the Snow Goose's bill. It looks like a miniature Snow Goose and is usually found among them.
In flocks of Snow Geese on flooded fields, marshes, and grain fields, mostly during spring and fall migration. It almost always occurs as one or a few birds among the larger Snow Geese.
Ross's Goose has increased dramatically in recent decades, so it now turns up among Snow Goose flocks more regularly than in the past, though it remains a rare bird in Michigan.
First-winter birds show a light gray wash on the crown and back, cleaner than a young Snow Goose but not yet adult white. The stubby bill with its blue-gray base and lack of a black 'grin patch' works at any age.
Gaggle on the ground, skein in flight — the same terms used for other geese. In Michigan they almost always turn up as singles or small numbers inside larger Snow Goose or Canada Goose flocks.
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