The Magpie Goose, Anseranas semipalmata, is an unusual member of the bird order Anseriformes, which contains about 150 species in three families.
This species is distinctive enough to be the sole member of the Anseranatidae; the other two families are the Anhimidae, the screamers, and the Anatidae, the ducks, geese, and swans. The Magpie Goose is, of course, the only member of its genus Anseranas (Lesson, 1828). Although it looks like a goose, it is probably closer to the screamers.
This 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.
The 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.
Magpie Goose is a colonial breeder and gregarious outside the breeding season, when it can large flocks. The voice is a loud honking.
Goose (plural geese) is the general English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae.
The unusual MagpieGoose is in a family of its own, the Anseranatidae.
Goose in its origins is one of the oldest words of the Indo-European languages, the modern names deriving from the proto-Indo-European root, ghans, hence Sanskrit hamsa (feminine hamsii), Latin anser, Greek khén etc.
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