Montezuma Refuge: the months its manager gives for snow geese, the 2027 order suspension and directions to it.
The months are the site manager’s own, quoted and linked below with the day they were read.
Late February – April. Canada and snow geese number in the tens of thousands.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read October 13, 2026. Read it at the source
A pin takes a color only in the months the refuge or agency that runs it gives for snow geese. The shaded grid is where people have logged a verified snow or Ross’s goose on iNaturalist in October, in any year, brighter where more have been logged; it maps reports, so it thickens where observers stand.
Due back in FebruaryNew York, October
Snow geese are due back at Montezuma Refuge in late February.
Late February – April. Canada and snow geese number in the tens of thousands.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read October 13, 2026. Read it at the source
Mid-September to freeze-up, geese and waterfowl come back through the refuge on their way south to wintering grounds. Mid-November, waterfowl numbers peak to the tens of thousands!U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read October 13, 2026. Read it at the source
More reports come in March than in any other month. The bars combine every year on record; the twelve month figure runs from October 14, 2025.
146 research grade snow and Ross’s goose reports from New York in the twelve months to October 14, 2026.
Reading this month’s reports from iNaturalist.
The spring conservation order is suspended for 2027.
The Conservation Order has been suspended for 2027 after agreement from the eight participating hunt states, Quebec and Ontario.Maryland Department of Natural Resources, read October 13, 2026. Read it at the source
The states it covers, in the notice’s words: “As of 2026, eight states in the Atlantic Flyway held the Conservation Order including Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.”
Check the state’s own regulations before you go: permits, zones and dates are the agency’s to set.
Every fact about New York’s snow geese links to the refuge, agency or festival page it comes from, read on October 13, 2026. Tour routes and viewing areas close for weather, hunts and work, so check the site’s own page before you drive. Report tallies are iNaturalist research grade records of snow and Ross’s geese, which count sightings, not birds. Every state is on the snow goose migration hub.