Cuckoo for Birds at Snow Goose Festival
CHICO, CALIF. — It’s only natural that a city which proudly boasts one of the largest municipal parks in the nation (Bidwell Park), would take keen interest in wildlife. Some even say that Chico gets a little nuts when it comes to birds. At Chico’s Snow Goose Festival Jan. 27-31, 2016 guided tours include several to the city’s own Bidwell Park, and drive trips to Delevan, Colusa and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuges to see snow geese, white-bodied geese with black wing tips visible in flight. Up to several hundred thousand of these birds may travel in a flock, creating a scene that looks like a blanket of snow. They do not breed during this time but do so from May to August when they return to places such as Canada and Greenland. Spending 50% of the year migrating, snow geese travel along the Pacific Flyway, the bird freeway that goes from the Bering Strait off the coast of Alaska to Patagonia in South America. It’s estimated that approx. 1 billion birds travel this route, one of four major routes in the U.S. — Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic flyways.
Geese
- Usually mate for life
- Feed in flocks mostly on vegetation, but also some invertebrates
- Lay half as many eggs as ducks
- Both parents help tend the eggs which leads to a higher survival rate for young
