The green pygmy goose (''Nettapus pulchellus'') is a small

perching duck The term perching ducks is used colloquially to mean any species of ducks distinguished by their readiness to perch high in trees. Until the late 20th century, perching ducks meant ''Cairinini'', a tribe of ducks in the duck, goose and swan fam ...

which breeds in southern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

.Alpher, Barry. 2004. Pama-Nyungan: Phonological Reconstruction and Status as a Phylo-Genetic Group. In Claire Bowern and Harold Koch (eds.), ''Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method'', 93-126, 387-574. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Taxonomy

First described in 1842 by the ornithologist

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...

, its specific name is derived from diminutive of the Latin adjective ''pulcher'' "pretty". It is one of three species in the Afro-Asian genus ''

Nettapus Pygmy geese are a group of very small "perching ducks" in the genus ''Nettapus'' which breed in the Old World tropics. They are the smallest of all Anseriformes, wildfowl. As the "perching ducks" are a paraphyletic group, they need to be placed e ...

'', an ancient and unusual group of ducks. No subspecies are recognised.

Description

Ranging from in length, the green pygmy goose is one of the smallest species of duck. It has a wingspan. It has a small bill and a compact form. The breeding male has a predominantly dark green back and neck, and a dark gray crown. The cheeks are white, and the underparts are pale grey and white scalloped. The tail, primary flight feathers and primary

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

are black, while the secondary flight feathers are white. The secondary coverts are a dark iridescent green. This iridescence is lost outside of the breeding season and the plumage becomes duller. The species exhibits a degree of

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

— the female has a barred rather than green neck but otherwise resembles the non-breeding male. Immature birds are less brightly coloured, and have mottled dark brown heads. The male has a high-pitched whistle and the female a lower-pitched call. Green Pygmy Goose Sitting.jpg, Adult female,

Perth Zoo Perth Zoo is a zoological park in South Perth, Western Australia, South Perth, Western Australia. The zoo first opened in 1898 and by 2011 housed 1258 animals of 164 species and an extensive botanical collection. It is a full institutional me ...

Green pygmy-goose (Nettapus pulchellus) immature Kakadu.jpg, Immature, The Northern Territory Green pygmy-goose (Nettapus pulchellus) in flight Kakadu.jpg, Male, The Northern Territory

Distribution

The green pygmy goose is found in southern New Guinea and across northern Australia (from Western Australia, through

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and into

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

). To the west, it commonly reaches

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, where it possibly breeds at

Lake Iralalara A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

. It is largely resident, apart from dispersion in the wet season. The habitat is well-vegetated lowland lagoons and other permanent fresh waters.

Breeding

The green pygmy goose nests in tree hollows. Eight to twelve eggs are laid and the incubation period is 26 days.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q783165

green pygmy goose The green pygmy goose (''Nettapus pulchellus'') is a small perching duck which breeds in southern New Guinea and northern Australia.Alpher, Barry. 2004. Pama-Nyungan: Phonological Reconstruction and Status as a Phylo-Genetic Group. In Claire Bowe ...

Birds of New Guinea Birds of the Northern Territory Birds of Queensland Birds described in 1842