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Australian Wildlife

  Green Pygmy-goose (Nettapus pulchellus)





Green Pygmy-goose | Nettapus pulchellus photo
Green Pygmy Goose taken in Kakadu National Park in Australia

Image by Duncan Wright - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







GREEN PYGMY-GOOSE FACTS

Description
A small duck with short bill. Dark green on back, and on neck in male. Top of head blackish, rest of body white, with dark scaly pattern on chest, sides and rump. In the breeding season males have white cheeks.

Occurs in pairs or small flocks, often swimming amongst waterlilies. Feeds on aquatic vegetation. Roosts mostly whilst floating, less often on timber above the water. Pairs bond for at least one season, possibly longer. The female lays and incubates her whitish eggs (clutch size unknown) in a tree hollow. By the time juveniles are able to fly, the group joins with other families as a non-breeding flock.

Author credit: Lindley McKay

Habitat
Large freshwater wetlands with plentiful floating or submerged vegetation. Rarely in tidal or coastal wetlands.

Food
Herbivore

Range
Northern Australia.

distribution map showing range of Nettapus pulchellus in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.


Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.




Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Nettapus
Species:pulchellus
Common Name:Green Pygmy-goose

Relatives in same Genus
  Cotton Pygmy-goose (N. coromandelianus)