Bird
Snow Goose
Chen caerulescens
A winter visitor to North Carolina, found in 32 of 100 counties and 8 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 32 of 100 counties
- Habitats
- 8

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 32 of 100 counties
- Habitats
- 8
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 8
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Other habitats in its models (37)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (2)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Northeast (2)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
Midwest (6)
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Winter.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
- Great Plains Prairie Pothole Winter.
- Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie Winter.
- Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depression Wetland Winter.
- Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland Winter.
West (14)
- California Mesic Serpentine Grassland Winter.
- California Northern Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Columbia Basin Foothill Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Alkaline Closed Depression Winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Interdunal Swale Wetland Winter.
- North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Winter.
- North Pacific Intertidal Freshwater Wetland Winter.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Conifer Swamp Winter.
- Rocky Mountain Lower Montane-Foothill Shrubland Winter.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh Winter.
- Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
- Western Great Plains Closed Depression Wetland Winter.
- Western Great Plains Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Winter.
- Willamette Valley Wet Prairie Winter.
Land cover and other classes (13)
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Winter.
- Recently Burned Winter.
- Recently Burned Grassland Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Winter.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Winter: does not nest here, in 32 of 100 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 229
- Tawny CottongrassEriophorum virginicum
- Three-rib ArrowgrassTriglochin striata
- Appalachian Woodland SedgeCarex austrolucorum
- Gator SedgeCarex gator
- Great Smoky Mountain SedgeCarex fumosimontana
- Silvery SedgeCarex disjuncta
- Broadleaf SedgeCarex platyphylla
- James's SedgeCarex jamesii
- Longstalk SedgeCarex pedunculata
- Plantainleaf SedgeCarex plantaginea
- Rich-woods SedgeCarex oligocarpa
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Allegheny SedgeCarex allegheniensis
- Appalachian SedgeCarex appalachica
- Awl-fruit SedgeCarex stipata
- Bailey's SedgeCarex baileyi
- Barratt's SedgeCarex barrattii
- Beaked SedgeCarex utriculata
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Biltmore SedgeCarex biltmoreana
- Black-edge SedgeCarex nigromarginata
- Bladder SedgeCarex intumescens
- Blister SedgeCarex vesicaria
- Blue SedgeCarex glaucodea
Plant genera in its diet records (24)
- Eriophorum Leaves and roots. 5 diet records. 1 native plant in North Carolina
- Oxytropis Leaves and roots. 4 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Triglochin Leaves and roots. 4 diet records. 1 native plant in North Carolina
- Carex Leaves and roots. 3 diet records. 148 native plants in North Carolina
- Eleocharis Leaves. 3 diet records. 28 native plants in North Carolina
- Equisetum Leaves. 3 diet records. 2 native plants in North Carolina
- Alopecurus Leaves and roots. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in North Carolina
- Dupontia Leaves and roots. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Plantago Leaves and roots. 2 diet records. 6 native plants in North Carolina
- Salix Seeds and leaves. 2 diet records. 5 native plants in North Carolina
- Schoenoplectus Roots. 2 diet records. 6 native plants in North Carolina
- Spartina Roots. 2 diet records. 4 native plants in North Carolina
- Bistorta Roots. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Cerastium Leaves. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
- Glycine Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Musa 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Oryza Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Phleum Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Poa Leaves. 1 diet record. 9 native plants in North Carolina
- Sagittaria Roots. 1 diet record. 13 native plants in North Carolina
- Sorghum Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Trifolium Leaves. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
- Zea Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Zizania 1 diet record. 1 native plant in North Carolina
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 89
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
Plants 1314
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common HorseweedErigeron canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Oakleaf FleabaneErigeron quercifolius
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Ivyleaf Morning-gloryIpomoea hederacea
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in North Carolina
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 120
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DovekieAlle alle
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
Plants 23
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodSesbania vesicaria
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Indian JointvetchAeschynomene indica
- Mid-Atlantic Flat-top GoldenrodEuthamia floribunda
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
Freshwater tidal marshes
Birds 81
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Le Conte's SparrowAmmodramus leconteii
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- BrantBranta bernicla
- Piping PloverCharadrius melodus
- American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchos
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Yellow RailCoturnicops noveboracensis
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
Plants 30
- Saltmarsh Water-hempAmaranthus cannabinus
- Seashore MallowKosteletzkya pentacarpos
- Carolina BishopweedPtilimnium ahlesii
- Riverbank Evening-primroseOenothera riparia
- Long's BittercressCardamine longii
- Coastal Water-hyssopBacopa monnieri
- Beaked SpikerushEleocharis rostellata
- American ReedPhragmites americanus
- Godfrey's SandwortSabulina paludicola
- Eastern GrasswortLilaeopsis chinensis
- Hairypod CowpeaVigna luteola
- Bushy SeedboxLudwigia alternifolia
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Snow Goose
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus




































































