Upland goose

Upland goose
Female (front) and male (behind) in Stanley, Falkland Islands
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Chloephaga
Species:
C. picta
Binomial name
Chloephaga picta
(Gmelin, 1789)
Subspecies
  • C. p. picta (Gmelin, 1789),
    (lesser Magellan goose)
  • C. p. leucoptera (Gmelin, 1789),
    (greater Magellan goose)
  Non-Breeding
  Year-round
  Breeding
Synonyms

Foetopterus ambiguus
Moreno & Mercerat, 1891

The upland goose or Magellan goose (Chloephaga picta) is a sheldgoose of the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans.[2][3] Sheldgeese resemble true geese and display similar habits, yet they are more closely related to shelducks and ducks.[3] The two recognized subspecies of upland goose are the continental picta subspecies and the insular (island) leucoptera subspecies.

This species nests and breeds close to water (rivers, ponds, oceans) either on the ground or near it among vegetation, usually in grasslands or coastal meadows in the Falkland Islands or in southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego at the beginning of the austral summer. Population estimates suggest the insular subpopulations are stable, but continental populations show a recent decline in abundance.[3] Upland geese are herbivores, specializing in plant leaves, stems and seeds.[2][4]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Chloephaga picta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22679975A92836848. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679975A92836848.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Carboneras, Carles; Kirwan, Guy M. (2020). "Upland Goose (Chloephaga picta), version 1.0". Birds of the World. Ithaca, New York, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.uplgoo1.01. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Bulgarella, M.; Kopuchian, C.; Giacomo, A.S.D.; Matus, R.; Blank, O.; Wilson, R.E.; Mccracken, K.G. (2014). "Molecular phylogeny of the South American sheldgeese with implications for conservation of Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and continental populations of the ruddy-headed goose Chloephaga rubidiceps and upland goose C. picta". Bird Conservation International. 24 (1): 59–71. doi:10.1017/S0959270913000178. hdl:11336/25659.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).