MAGPIE GOOSE

also called Pied, or Semipalmated, Goose (Anseranas semipalmata), large aberrant waterfowl of Australia and Papua New Guinea, the sole member of the subfamily Anseranatinae, family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). The sexes are alike in having a black-and-white body (hence magpie), long neck, long legs, and virtually unwebbed toes; the long hooked bill and bare face give the bird a vulturish look. It differs from other waterfowl in molting its flight feathers gradually, thereby having no flightless period. It perches high in trees but nests on the ground. Pairing is lifelong. Parent birds cooperate fully in nest building, incubation, and rearing the young.