Cape Barren goose by Kordouane

Photography • Animals • posted on Nov 02, 2017

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Description

The Cape Barren goose was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the current binomial name. It is a most peculiar goose of uncertain affiliations (Sraml et al. 1996). It may either belong into the "true geese" and swan subfamily Anserinae or into the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae as distinct tribe Cereopsini, or be separated, possibly including the prehistorically extinct flightless New Zealand geese of the genus Cnemiornis, in a distinct subfamily Cereopsinae. Indeed, the first bones of the New Zealand birds to be discovered were similar enough to those of the Cape Barren goose to erroneously refer to them as "New Zealand Cape Barren goose" ("Cereopsis" novaezeelandiae). The smaller population of Cape Barren goose in Western Australia is described as a subspecies, Cereopsis novaehollandiae grisea, and named for the group of islands known as the Recherche Archipelago.