Magpie gosling with mother

The male was doing his best to chase me away , good job there was a fence between us .

love these they are so beautiful and a wonderful species to have in ANY collection first gosling I have ever seen of this species thank you for sharing

So pleased to see this - when I visited in September the female was sitting tight on the nest and the male was indeed being very possessive and was not best pleased with me stopping to try and snap a shot ... recall there were another 2 Magpie Geese elsewhere at Llanelli too ( one of my favourite waterfowl ) .

Yes , there is another pair in the Australian walk-through . They have had them in the collection for years but I have not been aware of them breeding before . They breed regularly at Slimbridge . They are full of character but give me the impression of not being too intelligent - perhaps because of the strange shape of their head .

They look rather Dodo-ish, or alternatively like a link between Geese and Screamers( though they aren't) Hope the gosling(a weird-looking thing isn't it?) survives- Black Swans breed successfully in our winters.

Black swans are found in much colder areas of Australia though whereas magpie geese are in more northern areas. Although having said that with the correct care the goslings should be able to survive.

Unlike the dodo they are strong fliers. At one time Slimbridge had a full-winged male and in flight he looked rather like a long-necked crow with broad black wings beating slowly.

Alan

Seen them wild in Kakadu too- even more impressive in huge flocks!

Good point. It seems from what others say they have been bred successfully in UK though.

Unfortunately there was no sight of the gosling when I visited last Sunday . The adult pair were very subdued and did not bother to get up to greet me , as they often do with visitors who stop at their pen .