JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Snow cover in western Missouri is pushing an unusually large number of snow geese into eastern Missouri near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
The Department of Conservation says a conservation area in Lincoln County north of St. Louis recorded 7,000 snow geese, with an estimated 15,000 birds in the surrounding area.
Snow geese spend the winter in Missouri and other southern areas of their range. They return north to the Arctic to nest.
The birds are common in marshes, rivers, lakes and crop fields. They move constantly to seek a place to feed.