Migration Alert: Migration Bottleneck Widens as Light Geese Push into North Dakota and Canada

The 2026 spring light goose migration is entering its final stages in the United States portion of the Central Flyway, where the lack of a snow line is allowing birds to continue their march north. Another round of winter weather this week may provide a bit of a speed bump, but otherwise it appears to be “full steam ahead” for geese migrating north toward their Arctic nesting grounds.

“The first large flocks of snow geese arrived in North Dakota around March 20,” says John Palarski, migratory game bird management supervisor with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Since then, the skies have been alive with the sights and sounds of migrating waterfowl.

“It has been a fast-moving migration, for sure. With the exception of the far northeast corner of the state, there has been no snow line to hold the birds at bay,” says Palarski. “The leading edge of the migration is now well into southern Canada.”

Light geese have largely been following a traditional flight path through North Dakota, Palarski says. After funneling through eastern South Dakota, the birds moved up the Highway 281 corridor before hitting I-94, where the bottleneck tends to widen, and geese start to spread out east to west.

“You can find geese from Bismarck in the west all the way over to Valley City in the east, and they will continue to spread out the further north that they go,” Palarski says.

 In addition to light geese, Palarski notes that Canada geese, white-fronted geese, mallards, pintails, and even sandhill cranes have migrated into the state.

“The cranes are a bit surprising—certainly ahead of schedule,” he says.

Both North Dakota and South Dakota are scheduled to receive another round of winter weather later this week, delivering freezing temperatures and the potential for several inches of snow. The change in the weather may be enough to temporarily slow the light goose migration, but the moisture will certainly provide a welcome boost to habitat conditions in both states.

As far as hunting conditions are concerned, this next—and maybe last—round of snow is just another dip in what has been a roller-coaster ride for those chasing light geese in the Central Flyway.

“This has been a heck of a spring,” explains Charles Hamre, owner and guide with South Dakota Waterfowlers. “The birds seem to push harder and harder, so much so that I never hunted a feed all spring, only ran traffic, which is a first in over 20 years of guiding,” he says. “We had some great shoots, though, especially the last week when we were able to get under a good flight line of those juvenile birds that bring up the end of the migration.”