African Pygmy Goose - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by d.flack
Georgetown, Gambia, November 2016

Nettapus auritus

Identification

27–33 cm
Males

• Black crown and nape
• White face
• Green ear patches
• Metallic green back
• Light chestnut lower neck, breast and flanks
  

Females are smaller, rather grey, dark eye patches.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa: Eastern South Africa north to Ethiopia and Senegal; also Madagascar.

Taxonomy

Female
Photo by MikeB
Cuango river valley, northern Angola, April 2004

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Swamps, marshes, shallow freshwater ponds, slow-flowing rivers and bays with an abundance of floating vegetation (especially Nymphaea waterlilies).

Behaviour

Breeding

Nests are built in tree cavities, cliff holes and sometimes in the established nests of Hammerkop storks. The clutch consists of 6-12 eggs which are incubated for 23 days.

Diet

The diet consists of water lily seeds; also the seeds and green parts of other aquatic plants. They also eat some water insects and their larvae.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2017)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) African Pygmy Goose. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/African_Pygmy_Goose

External Links

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