Adults: Above, ash-grey. Below, ash-grey. Tail, black and square, over which grey wing-feathers droop. Bill, short and black, nearly completely covered with a greenish-yellow cere. Crown, white. Legs, dusky-red. Feet, black.
Moderately common within a restricted range. Locally dispersive or migratory.
Habitat
Offshore islands, improved pastures and clovers, salty ground and native succulents, camps on margins of dams, fresh and brackish swamps and lakes.
Voice
Females hav a low pitched grunt. Males also grunt but have high-pitched, rapid, multi-syllabic honk or trumpet. On the ground both sexes are usually quite except when alarmed or displaying. Very vocal in flight.
Cape Barren Goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) [XC603279]
by Iain Woxvold from Phillip Island (near Newhaven), Bass Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia (call)
Cape Barren Goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) [XC501667]
by Iain Woxvold from Phillip Island (near Newhaven), Bass Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia (call)
Nest
Large and rather flat, composed of dried grass and plants, and lined with down, placed on the ground. Down used to cover eggs when female leaves the nest.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 7, usually 4 - 5; white with coarse lime layer; ellipsoidal; 73 - 92 x 44 - 59 mm. Incunation: about 35 days; by female.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
Possibly two subspecies, one (grisea) with yellow feet and narrow white crown stripe (WA), and the other (novaehollandiae) with pink feet and broad white crown stripe (SA).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
novaehollandiae Latham, 1801 - Islands in Bass Strait, adjacent Australia and Tasmania.
grisea (Vieillot, 1818) - South-western Australia (offshore islands, including the Recherche Archipelago, and coastal southern western Australia).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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