- Where to see one
- 5 U.S. zoos in our directory hold magpie goose, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the magpie goose
The magpie goose is the only living species in its family, the Anseranatidae, and lives in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It has black-and-white plumage, a long neck and legs, a long hooked bill and orange legs and feet; males are 75 to 90 cm long. It inhabits open wetlands such as floodplains and swamps, wading and swimming while it eats mostly vegetation, including grass seeds, spike rush bulbs and wild rice. It is not truly migratory but may travel long distances for food and water. A colonial breeder, it nests on the ground or in trees, and outside the breeding season it forms noisy flocks of up to a few thousand birds.
Magpie Goose facts
- The family is a living fossil that diverged before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
- Males often mate with two females, all of which raise the young.
- The typical clutch is five to nine eggs.
- It once was widespread in southern Australia but largely disappeared there as wetlands were drained.
Where to see magpie goose in the U.S.
5 zoos across 5 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 4 zoos holding magpie goose by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
1 more zoo holds magpie goose but has no coordinates on file yet, so it isn't ranked here. It's in the full list below.
California· 1
Connecticut· 1
Louisiana· 1
Ohio· 1
Texas· 1
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
