The Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae'') is a large goose resident in southern Australia.

Etymology

The species' common name is derived from

Cape Barren Island Cape Barren Island, officially truwana / Cape Barren Island, is a island in the Bass Strait, off the north east coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the second largest island of the Furneaux Group; Flinders Island lies to the north, with the ...

, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers. It is known in the local

Jardwadjali language The Wemba Wemba language is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language once spoken along the Murray River and its tributaries in North Western Victoria and South Central New South Wales. Nari Nari, a dialect of Wemba Wemba, is part of a lang ...

as ''toolka''.

Taxonomy

The Cape Barren goose was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the current

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

. It is a most peculiar goose of uncertain affiliations (Sraml ''et al.'' 1996). It may either belong in the "true geese" and swan subfamily

Anserinae The Anserinae are a subfamily in the waterfowl family Anatidae. It includes the swans and true geese. Under alternative systematical concepts (see e.g., Terres & NAS, 1991), it is split into two subfamilies, the Anserinae contain the geese and ...

or in the

shelduck The shelducks, most species of which are found in the genus ''Tadorna'' (except for the Radjah shelduck, which is now found in its own monotypic genus ''Radjah''), are a group of large birds in the Tadorninae subfamily of the Anatidae, the biolog ...

subfamily

Tadorninae The Tadorninae is the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans. This group is largely tropical or Southern Hemisphere in distribution, w ...

as distinct

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

Cereopsini, or be separated, possibly including the prehistorically extinct flightless New Zealand geese of the genus '' Cnemiornis'', in a distinct subfamily Cereopsinae. The first bones of the New Zealand birds to be discovered were similar enough to those of the Cape Barren goose to erroneously refer to them as "New Zealand Cape Barren goose" (''"Cereopsis" novaezeelandiae''). The smaller population of Cape Barren goose in Western Australia is described as a subspecies, ''

Cereopsis novaehollandiae grisea The Recherche Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae grisea''), also known as the Cape Barren goose (southwestern), is large grazing bird found along the southern coast of Western Australia. It is a subspecies of the Cape Barren goose, ...

'', and named for the group of islands known as the

Recherche Archipelago The Archipelago of the Recherche, known locally as the Bay of Isles, is a group of 105 islands, and over 1200 "obstacles to shipping", off the south coast of Western Australia. The islands stretch from east to west and to off-shore encom ...

Description

Cereopsis novaehollandiae - Orielton lagoon

Cereopsis novaehollandiae -Cleland Wildlife Park, Australia -two-8a

These are bulky geese and their almost uniformly grey plumage, bearing rounded black spots, is unique. The tail and flight feathers are blackish and the legs are pink with black feet. The short, decurved black bill and green

cere The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, ...

gives it a very peculiar expression. The Cape Barren goose is long, weighs and has a wingspan; males are somewhat larger than females. This bird feeds by grazing and rarely swims.

Behaviour

Their ability to drink salt or brackish water allows numbers of geese to remain on offshore islands all year round. They are one of the rarest of the world's geese. They are gregarious outside the breeding season, when they wander more widely, forming small flocks.

Range and habitat

A previous decline in numbers appears to have been reversed as birds in the east at least have adapted to feeding on agricultural land. The breeding areas are grassy islands off the Australian coast, where this species nests on the ground. Breeding pairs are strongly territorial. It bears captivity well, quite readily breeding in confinement if large enough paddocks are provided. In Australia, 19th-century explorers named a number of islands "Goose Island" due to the species' presence there. A few geese were introduced near

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River ...

, New Zealand. They have persisted to this day. In 1968, a small number of geese were introduced to

Maria Island Maria Island or 'wukaluwikiwayna' in alawa kani) is a mountainous island located in the Tasman Sea">island.html" ;"title="alawa kani) is a mountainous island">alawa kani) is a mountainous island located in the Tasman Sea, off the east coast of ...

References

*Madge, Steve & Burn, Hilary (1987): ''Wildfowl : an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, w ...

, London. *Sraml, M.; Christidis, L.; Easteal, S.; Horn, P. & Collet, C. (1996): Molecular Relationships Within Australasian Waterfowl (Anseriformes). ''Australian Journal of Zoology'' 44(1): 47–58. (HTML abstract) https://tomelbourne.com.au/cape-barren-goose-bird-phillip-island/

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

Holotype of ''Cereopsis novaehollandiae'' in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaPhotos, audio and video of Cape Barren goose
from

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

's Macaulay Library
Photos of Cape Barren goose
from Graeme Chapman's photo library {{Taxonbar, from=Q257006

Cape Barren goose The Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae'') is a large goose resident in southern Australia. Etymology The species' common name is derived from Cape Barren Island, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers. It is known ...

Birds of South Australia Birds of Tasmania Birds of Victoria (Australia) Birds of Western Australia