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Green Pygmy-Goose (Nettapus pulchellus) Alternate name(s): "Green Goose-teal" Aboriginal name(s): "loonbi" Size: 30-36 cm; wing span: 48-60 cm Body mass: 245-430 g

Australia: Family Group 2 Family Group 2 Table Magpie Goose Cape Barren Goose Black Swan Plumed Whistling-Duck Wandering Whistling-Duck Spotted Whistling-Duck Blue-billed Duck Musk Duck Hardhead Australian Wood Duck Pink-eared Duck Grey Teal Chestnut Teal Garganey Australian Shelduck Radjah Shelduck Freckled Duck Pacific Black Duck Green Pygmy-Goose Cotton Pygmy-Goose Australasian Shoveler Australasian Grebe Hoary-headed Grebe Great Crested Grebe Emperor Penguin King Penguin Adelie Penguin Chinstrap Penguin Gentoo Penguin Royal Penguin Macaroni Penguin Rockhopper Penguin Little Penguin Magellanic Penguin Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Green Pygmy-Geese are small geese with a vermiculated grey and dark-green front and glossy dark-green back. The neck and cap of male Green Pygmy-Geese are also dark-green, with a white facial patch, whereas the females' plumage has less colour contrast and the neck is more mottled. The irises of both sexes are dark, the bill is mottled pink/black, the legs and feet are light-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Green Pygmy-Goose at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Green Pygmy-Goose is available HERE . Green Pygmy-Geese are tropical geese whose range extends from north-eastern Australia to some of the far-eastern Indonesian islands and parts of New Guinea. Green Pygmy-Geese are usually found only in the northern part of the Australian continent, from about the Kimberley via the Top End of the NT, South of the Gulf of Carpentaria, all of Cape York peninsula and most of the eastern QLD coast (to about Fraser Island). As demonstrated below, they are occasionally spotted outside their usual range, in NSW. Green Pygmy-Geese like wetlands, such as swamps and lagoons. Where to look? How to find this species? Green Pygmy-Geese are usually found by us around floating vegetation such as, e.g., water lilies.

Sightings Click here for sighting information We first spotted a Green Pgymy-Goose on a guided tour on the East Alligator River, NT, in October 1997. A single male Green Pygmy-Goose was seen by us at Narrabri Lake, Narrabri, NSW, in late September 2010. This location is far (at least 600 km) outside the species' normal range. The sighting coincided with heavy rainfall in most parts of Queensland. It has been accepted as only the sixth confirmed spotting of a Green Pygmy-Goose in NSW (and, to the best of our knowledge, the only inland sighting, West of the Great Dividing Range). B. Hensen reports spotting Green Pygmy-Geese at Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, in July 2013. B. Hensen also found Green Pygmy-Geese at Fogg Dam NR, NT, in August 2013, in October 2018, and at McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, in July 2019. Various contributors have since reported the species to us from the Top End of the NT. M. Mearns reports sighting Green Pygmy-Geese on a dam near Croydon, QLD, in July 2016, and at Karumba, QLD, in September 2019. Both M. Eaton and J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours spotted Green Pygmy-Geese at Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, in November 2018. In August 2023 M. Eaton also found Green Pygmy-Geese at Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, QLD.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Near-frontal view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese
Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
Note how the male in breeding plumage only has a small white cheek patch while the female's sides of the neck are white without a black fringe around them (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Fogg Dam NR, NT, August 2013]

Near-lateral view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese - male in breeding plumage, right, female on the left
(photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese, male in breeding plumage in front (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, QLD, August 2023]

Lateral view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese, male in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Palmerston Golf Course, Palmerston, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese; male in breeding plumage, right, female on the left (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese - male in breeding plumage, front, female behind (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Marlow's Lagoon, Palmerston, NT, January 2018]

Lateral view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese; female in front, male behind (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Croydon, QLD, July 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese; male in breeding plumage, right, female on the left
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Even from straight behind one can tell who is who in a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese; female on the left, male on the right
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Croydon, QLD, July 2016]

Pair of Green Pygmy-Geese banking to land; female on the right (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, July 2019]

MALE

BREEDING

Lateral view of a male Green Pygmy-Goose in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a male Green Pygmy-Goose in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a male Green Pygmy-Goose in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Palmerston Golf Course, Palmerston, NT, July 2020]

Comparison of a male Green Pygmy-Goose in breeding plumage with a Wandering Whistling-Duck
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Fogg Dam NR, NT, October 2018]

NON-BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a male Green Pygmy-Goose in non-breeding plumage; note the inconspicuous white cheek patch
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2010]

Lateral view of a male Green Pygmy-Goose in non-breeding plumage
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2010]

Here the Green Pygmy-Goose's back can be seen more clearly than above
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2010]

Lateral view of Green Pygmy-Geese, with males in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Karumba, QLD, September 2019]

Green Pygmy-Geese, with males in non-breeding plumage, in flight (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Karumba, QLD, September 2019]

FEMALE

Full-frontal view of a female Green Pygmy-Goose (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a female Green Pygmy-Goose (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Dorsal view of a female Green Pygmy-Goose in flight (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Marlow's Lagoon, Palmerston, NT, January 2018]

Sex unknown

Near-lateral view of Green Pygmy-Geese in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Near-lateral view of Green Pygmy-Geese in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Lateral view of Green Pygmy-Geese in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Lateral view of a flock of Green Pygmy-Geese in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Lateral view of a flock of Green Pygmy-Geese in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Lateral view of a flock of Green Pygmy-Geese in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial/communal

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair/covey

During the breeding season, male Green Pygmy-Geese are strongly territorial, while for the rest of the year the species is more social.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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