On 22 November 1987, at 14:30, a female White Pygmy-Goose Nettapus coromandelianus was observed at Aroa Lagoon, Central Province, c.100 km north-west of Port Moresby. The following description is from notes taken at the time: At first the bird was swimming in a channel of open water, between dense beds of water weed less than 50m from the shore. It was similar in size to Green Pygmy-Goose N.pulchellus which were present in large numbers, but smaller than Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa. It had a black bill, a dark crown, and a dark smudge about the eye. No obvious white supercilium was noted. The rest of the head, neck, breast and flanks were bright white. It was a much ‘cleaner’ looking bird than expeted from the illustration in Beehler et al (1986) so that we considered at first it was a male in eclipse. After five minutes it flew to another channel further out in the lagoon and was eventually lost to sight. In flight the back and wings appeared grey with a narrow white bar across the tips of the secondaries. The bird was therefore identified as a female.
There are no previous published records of this species in southern PNG (Coates 1985, Beehler et al 1986). The Asian subspecies N.c. coromandelianusis resident in the Sepik basin of nort-western PNG and Lake Kandeep in the Central Highlands (Beehler et al, 1986). The Australian subspecies N.c. albipennis is resident in north-east Australia (Slater et al, 1986) although “it can be expected to occur as a vagrant in southern New Guinea (Beehler et al, 1986).
The origins of the bird at Aroa are not clear. Illustrations of the female of the Asian subspecies (Beehler et al, 1986, King et al, 1984) show a dusky looking bird wile illustrations of the Australian subspecies (Slater et al, 1986, Simpson & Day 1984) show a much whiter appearance. The bird at Aroa appeared most similar to the illustrations of the Australian subspecies. Unfortunately, none of the field guides consulted deal with both subspecies and the written accounts in the above four field guides and in others (Coates 1985; Pizzey 1983; Macdonald 1973; Rand & Gilliard 1967) are very similar although describing different subspecies.
Beehler, B.M, T.K.Pratt & D.A.Zimmerman. 1986. Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press.
Coates, B.J. 1985. Birds of Papua New Guinea, Volume 1. Dove.
King, B., M. Woodcock, E.C.Dickinson. 1984. A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. Collins.
MacDonald, D. 1973. Birds of Australia. Reed.
Pizzey, G. 1983. A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Collins.
Rand, A.L. & E.T. Gilliard. 1967. Handbook of New Guinea Birds. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Simpson, K. & N.Day. 1984. The Birds of Australia. Lloyd O’Neill
Slater, P., P.Slater & R.Slater. 1986. The Slater Guide to Australian Birds. Rigby.
Originally published in Muruk 3(1): 5, co-authored with Chris Eastwood and Will Glynn.
There are no previous published records of this species in southern PNG (Coates 1985, Beehler et al 1986). The Asian subspecies N.c. coromandelianusis resident in the Sepik basin of nort-western PNG and Lake Kandeep in the Central Highlands (Beehler et al, 1986). The Australian subspecies N.c. albipennis is resident in north-east Australia (Slater et al, 1986) although “it can be expected to occur as a vagrant in southern New Guinea (Beehler et al, 1986).
The origins of the bird at Aroa are not clear. Illustrations of the female of the Asian subspecies (Beehler et al, 1986, King et al, 1984) show a dusky looking bird wile illustrations of the Australian subspecies (Slater et al, 1986, Simpson & Day 1984) show a much whiter appearance. The bird at Aroa appeared most similar to the illustrations of the Australian subspecies. Unfortunately, none of the field guides consulted deal with both subspecies and the written accounts in the above four field guides and in others (Coates 1985; Pizzey 1983; Macdonald 1973; Rand & Gilliard 1967) are very similar although describing different subspecies.
Beehler, B.M, T.K.Pratt & D.A.Zimmerman. 1986. Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press.
Coates, B.J. 1985. Birds of Papua New Guinea, Volume 1. Dove.
King, B., M. Woodcock, E.C.Dickinson. 1984. A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. Collins.
MacDonald, D. 1973. Birds of Australia. Reed.
Pizzey, G. 1983. A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Collins.
Rand, A.L. & E.T. Gilliard. 1967. Handbook of New Guinea Birds. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Simpson, K. & N.Day. 1984. The Birds of Australia. Lloyd O’Neill
Slater, P., P.Slater & R.Slater. 1986. The Slater Guide to Australian Birds. Rigby.
Originally published in Muruk 3(1): 5, co-authored with Chris Eastwood and Will Glynn.
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