The lives of Geese

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland today for thousands of farmers worry about lead that flock of geese can be a carefree life - day after day, year after year.

What have magpie geese special about?

The large up to 90cm magpie goose is native to New Guinea, Tasmania and the north-eastern coastal areas of Australia. The plumage of the bird has white on the neck and head as well as at the wing tips and leg approaches a black color and is otherwise. Feet and legs are orange, just like the beak, the color can go down to the reddish and which passes towards the head in one hand, with increasing age of the animal's growing bump. your unusual name was given the magpie goose due to sharply formed webs between their toes. Another amazing feature of this bird is that he does not lose as other geese by the falling of feathers during the moult its ability to fly for a short time, but still can not fly, because the necessary springs vary only slowly and gradually and renewed.

All these features can doubt whether the magpie goose, their names under, really belongs to the geese birds, since it is also possible evidence found that they could possibly belong to the genera military or ducks, but so far none of the three theories entirely could be excluded. The habitat of this particular bird is usually found in damp areas such as meadows or flood plains, because its diet is adjusted to water plants, and is based there and one of its main foods, wild rice, a typical source of food for these animals. The magpie geese often live in very large flocks, which may include several thousand animals. Previously existed in the tropical areas of northern Australia, even schools with a more massive size of up to 80,000 birds. magpie geese are mostly families from one male and two unrelated females, and all three are equally involved in the breeding and the rearing of young birds, the male takes over most but most of the nesting. The nests are safe from predators usually in hard to reach areas, for example, in treetops. Each of the magpie goose-female lays up to 8 eggs, to take care of the three adult animals then jointly.

The nesting season is February to June magpie geese, and when the young are hatched they are then magpie geese, supplies, in contrast to many ducks, from their parents, well, until they fledge and eventually become part of a separate family.