Spur-winged Goose - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by mkrijger
Amboseli, Kenya

Plectropterus gambensis

Identification

Female
Photo © by charelli
Botswana, May, 2018

75–100 cm (29½-39¼ in); males larger

• Black overall plumage
• White face
• White upper wing-coverts
• White belly
• Flesh-coloured legs
• Red bill
  

Males have a larger red facial patch, and a knob at the base of the upper mandible.

Distribution

Sub Saharan Africa; also Morocco and Egypt.
Wesern Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Zaire
Eastern Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, eSwatini

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Photo © by Alan Manson
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, November 2007

There are two subspecies^[1]:

• P. g. gambensis:

• Gambia east to Ethiopia, south to Angola and the Zambezi River

• P. g. niger:

• Namibia and Zimbabwe to Cape Province

Habitat

Wetlands. Swamps, lakes and flooded grassland and arable land.

Behaviour

Breeding

They build a large nest concealed in vegetation near water, timing their breeding effort during or at the end of the rainy season

Diet

It is mostly vegetarian, eating grasses and seeds, with the addition of some small fish.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2018)
4. The Beauty of Birds

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Spur-winged Goose. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spur-winged_Goose

External Links

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