Magpie Goose
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.
