# swans or snow geese **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138 "2014-01-30T17:32:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flaming\_yawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flaming\_yawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flaming_yawn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/1 "2014-01-30T17:32:08Z")
2 weeks ago while driving to PA we were on RT 684 in New York and along I would guess the Croton River I saw a huge amount of what I thought were Swans, someone told me they might have been snow geese. I still think they were swans… hundreds of them… anyone here live around there and can set me straight? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/2 "2014-01-30T17:37:12Z")
Look at images of [swans](http://www.google.com/search?q=swans&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=B43qUquDLPOisQTJ7YGYDA&ved=0CE0QsAQ&biw=1183&bih=886) and [snow geese](http://www.google.com/search?q=snow+geese&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=E43qUoSXCtKzsATsj4DoDg&ved=0CLEBEIke&biw=1183&bih=886). You can see that the latter have shorter necks and less grumpy expressions. They also lack the swans’ black basal knob on the beak. ---
**Author:** ![flaming\_yawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flaming\_yawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flaming_yawn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/3 "2014-01-30T17:43:56Z")
I have looked at pictures of both… they were far away from the road I still think they were swans… ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/4 "2014-01-30T19:49:45Z")
Snow geese come in two flavours–white, hence the name, and “blue”, a dark slate gray. If the entire flock of birds that you saw was white, I’d lean towards swans. At a great enough distance, though, you might not notice any dark birds in a sea of white. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/5 "2014-01-30T20:23:34Z")
Without a photo it would be hard to be sure, but I would say by habitat that Mute Swans would be more probable on a river than Snow Geese. This time of year Snow Geese are mainly in salt marshes like Jamaica Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/6 "2014-01-30T20:42:05Z")
I live not too far north of 684 and spend a lot of time kayaking (during the summer, natch). There are quite definitely a lot of swans on the local rivers. I think I have seen the group you’re talking about along 684. Those are certainly swans, if I am associating the right image with the particular place. ---
**Author:** ![flaming\_yawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flaming\_yawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flaming_yawn)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/7 "2014-01-31T00:08:45Z")
sorry we were going to fast for a picture… I had to go back on mapquest to figure out where we were. The swans went on and on forever. I always assumed the river led to a reservoir or something but it look like a lake. Thanks for helping, I am going to believe I saw swans. I figured it would be a newsworthy event or something. Gosh we get pictures of bears in the backyard in the papers here in central mass. figured hundreds of swans would be newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/8 "2014-01-31T01:29:26Z")
Mute Swans are introduced from Europe and have become increasingly numerous in some eastern states, to the extent they are considered an invasive species and a pest in some areas. They can be very aggressive and also affect the habitat for other species. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/9 "2014-01-31T01:55:11Z")
You might look at sightings reported to [eBird](http://ebird.org/ebird/eBirdReports?cmd=Start). ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/10 "2014-01-31T02:32:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Mute Swans are introduced from Europe and have become increasingly numerous in some eastern states, to the extent they are considered an invasive species and a pest in some areas. They can be very \*\*aggressive \*\*and also affect the habitat for other species. bolding mine I have no problem sharing my kayaking rivers with geese or ducks or muskrats or even beavers. But I do not like sharing them with swans, especially when the river is narrow. Something about the way they LOOK at me– No incidents. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/11 "2014-01-31T03:56:10Z")
Best to keep away. [Aggressive swan kills kayaker.](http://www.wcnc.com/video/featured-videos/Aggressive-swan-kills-kayaker-147745305.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/12 "2014-01-31T04:22:11Z")
Yeeks! I’ll definitely give them a wider berth this spring. Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/13 "2014-04-02T22:38:25Z")
Bringing this thread back from the dead to report that I drove down 684 today. Since the season has changed I can’t be sure that the few birds I saw were the same species as the hundreds seen by the Op in January; but the ones that were there today enjoying the almost ice-free waters were definitely swans. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swans-or-snow-geese/680138/14 "2014-04-02T23:39:12Z")
Roasted goose I like. Yum yum!