According to National Geographic's website, there are seven subspecies of Canada geese. These geese spend summers in northern North America and head south as soon as the weather turns cold. Many geese spend winters in the southern United States and Mexico. They are capable of traveling 1,500 miles in 24 hours. However, the birds tend to travel at a slower pace and make their trips to and from breeding grounds in two to four months, depending on how far they travel. Because of human influence on breeding grounds and farming areas, some geese have shortened the length of migrations, or choose not to migrate at all.
Light-bellied brent geese travel from Ireland to Eastern Canada. According to an article published by National Geographic, the birds leave Ireland in the spring and land in Iceland where they remain until about mid-June. The birds continue to the Queen Elizabeth Islands to breed during the summer. The birds return to Ireland by wintertime. Each trip takes this species of geese an entire season, or about four to five months.
Bar-headed geese migrate across the Himalayan Mountains, spending two months traveling up to 5,000 miles, reaching heights of more than 20,000 feet, according to a National Geographic article. The birds leave India during the spring to reach breeding grounds in and around Mongolia. The birds head back to India during a winter migration.
According to the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, snow geese breed in Arctic regions from Greenland to Alaska. Snow geese leave breeding grounds between August and October, headed south to Mexico or the Gulf Coast. The geese reach southern destinations by wintertime. According to the Refuge's website, some snow geese fly continuously, at 40 to 50 mph for periods as long as 70 hours and nearly 2,000 miles. Generally, snow geese make stops at various points including Canada, South Dakota and North Dakota.
