Animalia Life
Anseranas semipalmata
SUBFAMILY
Anseranatinae
TAXONOMY
Anas semipalmata Latham, 1798, Hawkesbury River, New
South Wales, Australia. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Pied goose; Semipalmated goose; French: Canaroie
semipalmй; German: SpaltfuЯgans; Spanish: Ganso Urraco.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
27.6–35.4 in (70–90 cm); female 4.4 lb (2.0 kg); male 6.2 lb
(2.8 kg); webs on the toes reduced; hind toe very long.
DISTRIBUTION
Southern New Guinea and Queensland, Australia; reintroduced
in Victoria, southeastern Australia.
HABITAT
Swamps and grasslands in riverine floodplains.
BEHAVIOR
Often bigamous. Parental care extensive. Gregarious.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on grasses and seeds using its feet to bend down taller
plants. Also digs out roots and bulbs with its hooked bill.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Often bigamous, with one male paired with two females. One
or both females lay 1-16 eggs in same nest, Feb.–Apr. in north,
Aug.–Sept. in south. The nest is a mound of floating vegetation.
Incubation 23–25 days; fledging c. 11 weeks; sexual maturity
after two years in females and 3–4 years in males.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Size of populations increasing. Generally common in its habitat.
Protected from hunting except during open season in Northern
Territory, Australia.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Hunted traditionally by aboriginies. Considered a pest by rice
growers.