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The 'Magpie-goose', ''Anseranas semipalmata'' is an unusual member of the bird order 'Anseriformes', the latter containing about 150 living species in three families.
The Magpie-goose is a resident breeder in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is found in a variety of open wet areas such as floodplains and swamps. It is fairly sedentary apart from some movement during the dry season.
Its nest is on the ground, and a typical clutch is 5-14 eggs. Some males mate with two females.
Magpie-geese are unmistakable birds with their black and white plumage and yellowish legs. The feet are only partially webbed, although the Magpie-goose will feed on vegetable matter in the water as well as on land. Males are larger than females. Unlike true geese, the moult is gradual, and there is no flightless period.
They are colonial breeders and are gregarious outside of the breeding season when they can form large and noisy flocks of up to a few thousand individuals. The voice is a loud honking.
This species is distinctive enough to be the sole member of the 'Anseranatidae'; the other two living families are the Anhimidae, the screamers, and the Anatidae, the ducks, geese, and swans. The Magpie-goose is the only member of its genus ''Anseranas''
This family is quite old, having apparently diverged before the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event. The fossil record is limited, nonetheless, with an undescribed species from the Late Oligocene of Billy-Créchy (France) being known (Hugueney ''et al'', 2003). The enigmatic genus ''Anatalavis'' (Hornerstown Late Cretaceous/Early Paleocene of New Jersey, USA - London Clay Early Eocene of Walton-on-the-Naze, England) is sometimes considered to be the earliest known anseranatid.

Contents

Conservation Status

State of Victoria, Australia

Gallery

References

External links

Conservation Status

State of Victoria, Australia

★ The Magpie Goose is listed as 'threatened' on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.^[1] Under this Act, an ''Action Statement'' for the recovery and future management of this species has not been prepared.^[2]

★ On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, this species is listed as near threatened. Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate
Fauna in Victoria - 2007, Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, , , Department of Sustainability and Environment, , ISBN 978-1-74208-039-0

Gallery

References

★ Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

★ 'Hugueney', Marguerite; Berthet, Didier; Bodergat, Anne-Marie; Escuillié, François; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile & Wattinne, Aurélia (2003): La limite Oligocène-Miocène en Limagne-changements fauniques chez les mammifères, oiseaux et ostracodes des différents niveaux de Billy-Créchy (Allier, France). ''Geobios'' '36': 719-731 [Article in French with English abstract] (HTML abstract)

★ 'Madge', Steve & 'Burn', Hilary (1987): ''Wildfowl : an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world''. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-3999-7

★ 'Pringle', J. D. (1985): ''The Waterbirds of Australia''. National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, Australian Museum/Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
1. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
2. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria

External links

★ BirdLife Species Factsheet