The Magpie Goose (Anseranas semipalmata) is a fairly large bird with a black head and neck and a patch of pinky black skin on their face towards the beak. The body is white, the tail and wings black and the legs orange.
They like to perch high up in trees.
The Magpie Goose is unique among waterfowl in not moulting all its flight feathers at the same time, so never loses its ability of flight entirely. The primitive Magpie Goose is in a separate tribe all on its own – the Anseranatidae. The scientific name Anseranas semipalmata, translates directly as ‘half-webbed goose-duck’.
They are readily kept in collections through Europe but not so much in the UK with fewer successful breeders.
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