Jump to content

Magpie goose

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with the other birds, for which seeMagpieandMagpie duck.

Magpie goose
NearEast Point, Northern Territory
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anseranatidae
Genus: Anseranas
Lesson,1828
Species:
A. semipalmata
Binomial name
Anseranas semipalmata
(Latham,1798)
Synonyms

Anas semipalmataLatham, 1798

Themagpie goose(Anseranas semipalmata) is the sole living representativespeciesof thefamilyAnseranatidae.This commonwaterbirdis found in northernAustraliaand southernNew Guinea.[2]As the species is prone to wandering, especially when not breeding, it is sometimes recorded outside its core range.[2]The species was once also widespread in southern Australia but disappeared from there largely due to the drainage of the wetlands where the birds once bred. Due to their importance to Aboriginal people as a seasonal food source,[3]as subjects of recreational hunting,[4]and as a tourist attraction, their expansive and stable presence in northern Australia has been "ensured [by] protective management".[5]

Description

[edit]

Magpie geese are unmistakable birds with their black and white plumage and yellowish legs. The feet are only partially webbed, and the magpie goose feeds on vegetable matter in the water, as well as on land. Males are larger than females. Unlike truegeese,theirmoltis gradual, so no flightless periods result. Their voice is a loud honking.

Systematics and evolution

[edit]

This species is placed in theorderAnseriformes,having the characteristic bill structure, but is considered to be distinct from the other species in thistaxon.The related and extant families,Anhimidae(screamers) andAnatidae(ducks,geese,andswans), contain all the other taxa. The magpie goose is contained in the genusAnseranasand family Anseranatidae, which aremonotypicnow.[6]

A cladistic study of the morphology of waterfowl found that the magpie goose was an early and distinctive offshoot, diverging after screamers and before all other ducks, geese, and swans.[7]

This family is quite old, aliving fossil,having apparently diverged before theCretaceous–Paleogene extinction event— the relativeVegavis iaailived some 68-67 million years ago. Thefossilrecord is limited, nonetheless. The enigmatic genusAnatalavis(HornerstownLate CretaceousorEarly Paleoceneof New Jersey, USA -London ClayEarly EoceneofWalton-on-the-Naze,England) is sometimes considered to be the earliest known. OtherPaleogenebirds sometimes considered magpie-geese are the generaGeranopsisfrom theHordwell FormationLate Eoceneto theEarly Oligoceneof England andAnserpicafrom theLate OligoceneofBilly-Créchy(France).[8]

The earliest known member of the group in Australia isEoanseranasrepresented by fossils found in the late Oligocene Carl Creek Limestone of Queensland.[9]Additional fossils from North America and Europe suggest that the family was spread across the globe during the late Paleogene period.[10]The Australian distribution of the living species ties in well with the presumedGondwananorigin ofAnseriformes,but Northern Hemisphere fossils are puzzling. Perhaps the magpie geese were one of the dominant groups of Paleogene waterfowl, only to become largely extinct later.[original research?]

Ecology and status

[edit]

The magpie goose is found in a variety of openwetlandareas such asfloodplainsandswamps,where they wade and swim. They eat mostly vegetation such as dry grass blades, grass seeds,spike rushbulbs andwild rice.[11]

Magpie geese are fairly sedentary apart from some movement during the dry season. They are colonial breeders and are gregarious outside of the breeding season when they can form large and noisy flocks of up to a few thousand individuals. Magpie geese nest on the ground or in trees where they can be five meters or higher above the ground. Their typicalclutchis between 5-14 eggs. Some males mate with two females, all of which raise the young, unlike some other polygamous birds.[12]This may be beneficial whenpredationof young is high as chicks raised by trios are more likely to survive.

This species is plentiful across its range, although this is significantly reduced in comparison to the range at time of European settlement. The range once extended as far south as theCoorongand the wetlands of the southeast ofSouth Australiaand WesternVictoria.For Australia as a whole, it is not threatened and has a controlled hunting season when numbers are large. However, most of the southern populations were extirpated in the mid-20th century byoverhuntingandhabitat destruction.The species has been subject toreintroductionprojects such asBool Lagoonbetween Penola and Naracoorte. Populations in more northern areas have again reached a level where it can be regularly utilized by hunters, although not in the example provided. The magpie goose was listed asnear threatenedon the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria.[13]In the December 2007Flora and Fauna Guarantee Actlist of threatened fauna, it is also listed.[14][15]As of early 2008, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species had not been prepared.[16]

With the advent of climate change, and more frequent seawater inundations of the current extensive freshwater floodplains,CSIROscientists argue that magpie geese populations may be at risk.[17]

In Aboriginal languages

[edit]

TheKunwinjkuof westernArnhem Landknow this bird asmanimunak.[18]It became an important food item with the formation of wetlands about 1500 ya, and is depicted in rock art from this period.Mimifigures are often shown holding goose-feather fans.[19]InYolŋu Mathathe bird is known asgurrumaṯtji,[20]or aroundRaminginingasgumang.[21]

In theWadawurrung language,the magpie goose is known as Ngangok.

[edit]
  • Juvenile
    Juvenile
  • Immature
    Immature
  • Taking off
    Taking off
  • In flight
    In flight
  • Magpie goose colony at Serendip Sanctuary
    Magpie goose colony atSerendip Sanctuary
  • Magpie goose on nest
    Magpie goose on nest
  • Eggs - MHNT
    Eggs -MHNT

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^BirdLife International (2016)."Anseranas semipalmata".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2016:e.T22679732A92826979.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679732A92826979.en.Retrieved12 November2021.
  2. ^abCarboneras, C. (1992). "Magpie Goose". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.).Handbook of the Birds of the World.Vol. 1. Lynx Edicions. pp.574–575.ISBN84-87334-10-5.
  3. ^Whitehead, P. J., M. Storrs, M. McKaige, R. Kennett, and M. Douglas. 2000. Wise use of wetlands in northern Australia: indigenous use. Centre for Tropical Wetlands Management and Centre for Indigenous Natural and Cultural Resource Management. Northern Territory University, Darwin.
  4. ^Whitehead, PJ; Bayliss, P; Fox, RE (1988). "Recreational Waterfowl Hunting Activity and Harvests in Northern-Territory, Australia".Wildlife Research.15(6): 625.doi:10.1071/wr9880625.ISSN1035-3712.
  5. ^Traill, Lochran William (2009).Conservation of north Australian magpie geese Anseranas semipalmate populations under global change(PDF)(PhD Dissertation). p. 13.
  6. ^Myers, P.; Espinosa, R.; Parr, C.S.; Jones, T.; Hammond, G.S. & Dewey, T.A. (2008):Animal Diversity Web-Family Anseranatidae.
  7. ^Livezey, Bradley C. (1986)."A phylogenetic analysis of recent anseriform genera using morphological characters"(PDF).Auk.103(4): 737–754.doi:10.1093/auk/103.4.737.
  8. ^Hugueney, Marguerite; Berthet, Didier; Bodergat, Anne-Marie; Escuillié, François; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile & Wattinne, Aurélia (2003). "La limite Oligocène-Miocène en Limagne: changements fauniques chez les mammifères, oiseaux et ostracodes des différents niveaux de Billy-Créchy (Allier, France)" [The Oligocene-Miocene boundary in Limagne: faunal changes in the mammals, birds and ostracods from the different levels of Billy-Créchy (Allier, France)].Geobios.36(6): 719–731.doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2003.01.002.
  9. ^Worthy, Trevor H.; Scanlon, J.D. (2009)."An Oligo-Miocene Magpie Goose (Aves: Anseranatidae) from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, Australia".Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.29(1): 205–211.doi:10.1671/039.029.0103.S2CID129930435.
  10. ^Worthy, T. H. & Scanlon, J. D. (2009). "An Oligo-Miocene Magpie Goose (Aves: Anseranatidae) from Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia".Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.29(1): 205–211.doi:10.1671/039.029.0103.S2CID129930435.
  11. ^Wilber, R. (2008)."Anseranas semipalmata".Animal Diversity Web.University of Michigan.Retrieved2019-10-24.
  12. ^Pringle, John Douglas (1985).The waterbirds of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife.National photographic index of Australian wildlife. North Ryde/Australia; London/England: Angus & Robertson Publ.ISBN978-0-207-15015-9.
  13. ^Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment (2007):Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria - 2007.Department of Sustainability and Environment, East Melbourne, Victoria,ISBN978-1-74208-039-0
  14. ^The FFGA list does not distinguish different threat categories.
  15. ^Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment (2007):Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act of 1988 - Threatened List December 2007.
  16. ^Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment (2007):Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act of 1988: Index of Approved Action StatementsArchived2008-10-15 at theWayback Machine.
  17. ^ECOS: Indigenous icon at riskfromsea level rise.Blogs,CSIRO.Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  18. ^Garde, Murray."manimunak".Bininj Kunwok Online Dictionary.Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre.Retrieved1 June2019.
  19. ^Goodfellow, D.L. & M. Stott (2001, 2005). Birds of Australia's Top End. 1st Edition, Darwin: Scrubfowl Press. 2nd Edition, Sydney: Reed New Holland.
  20. ^"gurrumaṯtji".Yolngu Matha Dictionary.Charles Darwin University.Retrieved1 June2019.
  21. ^"Roy Burnyila".Bula'bula Arts.Retrieved1 June2019.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Carboneras, C. (1992) Family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese and Swans), pp. 536–630 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds.Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol 1, Ostrich to DucksLynx Edicions, Barcelona.ISBN84-87334-09-1
  • Madge, Steve & Burn, Hilary (1987):Wildfowl: an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world.Christopher Helm,London.ISBN0-7470-2201-1
  • Pringle, J.D. (1985):The Waterbirds of Australia.National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife,Australian Museum/Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toAnseranas semipalmata.
Wikispecieshas information related toAnseranas semipalmata.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magpie_goose&oldid=1227579932"