Description
A small duck with short bill. Dark green on back, and on neck in male. Top of head blackish, rest of body white, with dark scaly pattern on chest, sides and rump. In the breeding season males have white cheeks.
Occurs in pairs or small flocks, often swimming amongst waterlilies. Feeds on aquatic vegetation. Roosts mostly whilst floating, less often on timber above the water. Pairs bond for at least one season, possibly longer. The female lays and incubates her whitish eggs (clutch size unknown) in a tree hollow. By the time juveniles are able to fly, the group joins with other families as a non-breeding flock.
Author credit: Lindley McKay
Habitat
Large freshwater wetlands with plentiful floating or submerged vegetation. Rarely in tidal or coastal wetlands.
Food
Herbivore
Range
Northern Australia.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Anseriformes | | Family: | Anatidae | | Genus: | Nettapus | | Species: | pulchellus | | Common Name: | Green Pygmy-goose |
Relatives in same Genus
Cotton Pygmy-goose (N. coromandelianus)
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