Magpie Goose
英文名：Magpie Goose（学名：Anseranas semipalmata），是雁形目鹊雁科鹊雁属的鸟类。是本科唯一的现存物种，以其独特的黑白色羽毛、黄色腿脚和部分蹼足而著称。分布于澳大利亚北部和新几内亚南部，曾广泛存在于澳大利亚南部，后因湿地排水和狩猎导致数量锐减。得益于保护措施，鹊雁在北部地区数量稳定，但在东南部恢复有限。
Magpie Goose
Cairns This tropical town in northeast Australia is the gateway to some exceptional birding. The town itself, however, should not be ignored because the waterfront offers close up views of shorebirds, and the lowland tropical rainforest and gardens support a superb selection of birds, including Red-necked Crake, Papuan Frogmouth, Little Kingfisher, Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher, Noisy Pitta and Pied Monarch. Some years in Jan and Feb Red-rumped Swallow can be found just north of Cairns at Newell and Newell Beach in company with Welcome Swallow.
75-90 cm; span 1.2-1.8 m. Male larger. Long orange-yellow legs; narrow bill, reddish facial skin and knobbed head distinguish this lanky, black-and-white, goose-like bird. Immature: smuttier; crown rounded, without knob. Parties to huge flocks: digs around swamp margins; wades, swims with stern uptilted, upends; perches in heads of swamp-woodland trees. When approached, raises thickets of black necks and a fluty clamour. Flight laboured, on broad wings with pronounced black fingertips: note white underparts and underwings, large black tail; glides with lowered legs when alighting.
- Other name
- Pied Goose.
- Similar Species
- in flight, Black Swan: white wingtips; Straw-necked Ibis: white tail.
- Voice
- falsetto honking, louder and higher-pitched in male. Young birds: sibilant whistles.
- Habitat
- large seasonal wetlands and well-vegetated dams with rushes and sedges; wet grasslands, floodplains.
- Breeding
- Jan.-April, n. Aust.; July-Nov., se. Aust.
- Nest
- a deep cup; on mound of floating or trampled-down vegetation; in colony in swamp.
- Eggs
- 1-16, average about 8; oval, cream-white or off-white; often stained.
- Range & Status
- formerly widespread in large numbers in se. Aust., coastal e. and ne. Aust. Now extends coastally (up to 300 km inland) from near Broome (WA) to about Brisbane (Q). Casual s. NSW, Vic., SA, WA; extending s. in se. Q and ne. NSW; rare, irregular Tas. Reintroduced parts Vic. and Bool Lagoon (se. SA), where occasional reports of hundreds. Mostly sedentary; dispersive in dry season, extent of movement depending on water conditions. Also Torres Strait and s. PNG.
