Cape Barren Goose

Cereopsis novaehollandiae

Cape Barren Geese live in the southern parts and islands of Australia, including Tasmania. They eat grasses, clover, herbs and their seeds. They currently are one of the rarest kinds of the world's geese, and at one point a few decades ago were brought to the verge of extinction. These geese live in areas with salty or brackish water, which they can drink because they have a nasal salt gland through which they excrete the excess salt. The characteristic yellow fleshy cover of the (otherwise black) beak of this goose is called a cere.

Picture taken at a park near Melbourne, Australia, in January 2003.

Tribe Tadornini
Subfamily Anatinae
Family Anatidae
Order Anseriformes
Class Aves
Subphylum Vertebrata
Phylum Chordata
Kingdom Animalia
Life on Earth
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