Snow geese nest in the arctic region, along the northern tips of Canada, Alaska and Greenland. Scientists do not yet fully understand how snow geese are able to routinely find their nesting grounds in the barren arctic tundra but it has been observed that the birds return to the same area where they hatched. Geese find their mates during the winter feeding season and they generally forge lifelong bonds. By late spring, they start their northerly migration to their nesting grounds and wait for onset of summer. Once the ground begins to thaw, the female builds a nest and starts laying eggs, usually one every day and missing a day before laying the final egg in her clutch. A female lays an average of 4 eggs in a clutch. Once all the eggs are laid, the female lines her nest with her down feathers and begins incubation, which lasts 23 days. During this period the gander stands guard beside the nest, warding off predators. Both the male and female spend almost all the time near their nests primarily because unguarded nests become vulnerable to predators such as foxes and Jaegers. Another reason is that an exposed nest loses heat causing delays in hatching. Geese essentially fast during this period and females typically lose 20% of their body weight. They depend upon nutritional reserves built up during the preceeding winter and spring feeding months. Given this situation, it is all the more important that bird watchers not get overzealous and stress out the birds during the feeding months. If adequate reserves are not built up, geese will succumb during nesting to a combination of freezing arctic temperatures and starvation.

Despite the fact that eggs were laid one per day, all the eggs in a clutch hatch around the same time. The entire colony of geese complete egg laying, incubation and hatching of goslings in just over a month - between May and June. Goslings are born with fuzzy yellow feathers and they learn to walk and feed themselves within the first 24 hours. They instinctively peck at the ground for food almost immediately after hatching. For the first few days after the eggs are hatched, the goslings derive nourishment from the still attached yolk sac. During this time, in a process called brood migration, the adults lead the goslings to nearby feeding areas. Goslings track the largest objects they see around them, which are usually their parents, a phenomenon called imprinting . Around the time the eggs hatch, the adults molt, losing most of their flight feathers and getting grounded. In 5-6 weeks, the adults re-grow their feathers and by this time, the goslings will also have learnt to fly.

It is peak summer in the arctic tundra when the goslings are hatched. Wildflowers and vegetation are at a rapid growth and an almost constant summer sun provides long feeding days for the starved adults and the newly hatched goslings. However the arctic vegetation has a very narrow window of opportunity for growth, given the relatively short summer season. Geese's feeding habit is very destructive to the plant habitat. With the right population balance, vegetation will usually recover by the next spring when the birds return to the tundra. However, in the past two decades, snow geese populations have steadily grown to a point where they are causing increased pressure on the arctic vegetation that is unable to recover in a year's time. Scientists are already finding vast areas that are now barren that were once prime geese feeding areas. The geese are, in turn, forced to migrate their brood over farther distances from the nesting grounds to find food. The longer migration saps energy and makes goslings grow more slowly, in turn leading to higher mortality rates. The receding arctic vegetation is also affecting other animal and bird colonies that depend upon the very same feeding grounds for their survival.

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