Cape Barren Geese

[Grumpy John]

Phillip Island is teeming with these birds and it's not that hard to get some decent images of them as they are used to us humans. Bonus for me today as I spotted a mum and her chicks.

#1 On the precipice.


#2 Mum and her chicks. The chicks appear to be OOF, but I think it is just their fluffy down.


#3 What a red eye you have.

[Isac]

Never seen these before John. They're an odd looking bird but all part of our animal kingdom, which we are lucky to have. good pics too. Only CC, #3 subject needs moving to the left to give it some positive space. Other than that, all good.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

+1 to Isac's thoughts
Phil

[Ralph]

I want to get some shots of these and I think they are a great looking birds to have in one of our folders.
So these are high on my list and I think they are are close by my older brother place so I must go there for a visit one day to get them.
Nice job on them all.

[Grumpy John]

Some background info on the Cape Barren Goose, courtesy of Wikipedia.

These are bulky geese and their almost uniformly grey plumage, bearing rounded black spots, is unique. The tail and flight feathers are blackish and the legs are pink with black feet. The short, decurved black bill and green cere gives it a very peculiar expression.

The Cape Barren goose is 75 to 100 cm (30 to 39 in) long, weighs 3 to 7 kg (6.6 to 15.4 lb) and has a 150 to 190 cm (59 to 75 in) wingspan; males are somewhat larger than females. This bird feeds by grazing and rarely swims.

Behaviour
Their ability to drink salt or brackish water allows numbers of geese to remain on offshore islands all year round.They are one of the rarest of the world's geese. They are gregarious outside the breeding season, when they wander more widely, forming small flocks.

Range and habitat
A previous decline in numbers appears to have been reversed as birds in the east at least have adapted to feeding on agricultural land. The breeding areas are grassy islands off the Australian coast, where this species nests on the ground. Breeding pairs are strongly territorial. It bears captivity well, quite readily breeding in confinement if large enough paddocks are provided.

In Australia, 19th-century explorers named a number of islands "Goose Island" due to the species' presence there.

A few geese were introduced near Christchurch, New Zealand. They have persisted to this day.

In 1968, a small number of geese were introduced to Maria Island.

[Ralph]

Thanks for the good and useful information on this.