• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Anser caerulescens (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Chen.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	8,480,000	medium
Extent of Occurrence non-breeding (km2)	15,600,000	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Number of mature individuals	16000000	poor	estimated	2020
Population trend	increasing		inferred	-
Generation length (years)	8.5	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number 15,000,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2020). The European population is estimated at 1,000-2,000 pairs, which equates to 2,000-4,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015).

Trend justification: The overall population trend is increasing (Partners in Flight 2020; Wetlands International 2020). In North America the rate of increase is accelerating in recent years, amounting to 200% over the past three generations (Meehan et al. 2018). The Alaskan populations are estimated to be increasing (Amundson et al. 2019). In Europe the population size is also estimated to be increasing (BirdLife International 2015). Despite being hunted to regulate the population trend, the increase is continuing (Mowbray et al. 2020).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Bahamas	extant	vagrant
Barbados	extant	vagrant
Belgium	extant	vagrant
Belize	extant	vagrant
Bermuda (to UK)	extant	vagrant
Bulgaria	extant	vagrant
Canada	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Cayman Islands (to UK)	extant	vagrant
China (mainland)	extant	vagrant
Cuba	extant	vagrant
Czechia	extant	vagrant
Denmark	extant	vagrant
Estonia	extant	vagrant
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	vagrant
Finland	extant	vagrant
France	extant	vagrant
Germany	extant	vagrant
Greenland (to Denmark)	extant	native		yes
Honduras	extant	vagrant
Iceland	extant	vagrant
India	extant	vagrant
Ireland	extant	vagrant
Italy	extant	vagrant
Japan	extant	vagrant
Kazakhstan	extant	vagrant
Latvia	extant	vagrant
Lithuania	extant	vagrant
Marshall Islands	extant	vagrant
Mexico	extant	native			yes
Netherlands	extant	vagrant
North Korea	extant	vagrant
Norway	extant	introduced	yes
Poland	extant	vagrant
Portugal	extant	vagrant
Puerto Rico (to USA)	extant	vagrant
Romania	extant	vagrant
Russia	extant	native		yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	vagrant
Russia (European)	extant	vagrant
South Korea	extant	vagrant
Spain	extant	vagrant
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extant	vagrant
Trinidad and Tobago	extant	vagrant
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK)	extant	vagrant
United Kingdom	extant	introduced	yes
USA	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Virgin Islands (to USA)	extant	vagrant

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Russia (Asian)	Cape Billings
Russia (Asian)	Wrangel and Herald Islands
Canada	Hay and Zama Lakes
Canada	Delta Marsh
Canada	Oak Hammock Marsh WMA
Canada	Whitewater Lake
Canada	North, West, and East Shoal Lakes
Canada	Mackenzie River Delta
Canada	Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary
Canada	Queen Maud Gulf
Canada	Southwest Bylot
Canada	McConnell River
Canada	Boas River and associated wetlands
Canada	Akimiski Island
Canada	Great Plain of the Koukdjuak
Canada	Hannah Bay
Canada	Ekwan to Lakitusaki Shores
Canada	Cape Henrietta Maria
Canada	Moose River Estuary
Canada	Marais de la baie de L'Isle-Verte
Canada	Battures de Beauport and chenal de l'île d'Orléans
Canada	Nicolet et Baie-du-Fèbvre
Canada	Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area
Canada	Nunaluk Spit to Herschel Island
USA	Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
USA	Coastal Prairie
USA	Delaware Bayshore Region
USA	Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area
Mexico	Complejo de Humedales del Noroeste de Chihuahua

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	major	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Tundra	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	suitable	non-breeding
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Inland Deltas	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 2500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Primary form used	Life stage used	Source	Scale	Level	Timing
Pets/display animals, horticulture	-	-		international	non-trivial	recent
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	-	-			non-trivial	recent

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Anser caerulescens. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/snow-goose-anser-caerulescens on 29/09/2023. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 29/09/2023.