Upland Goose

• Its genus, Chloephaga, means "grass eaters" in Greek, after its diet of tender grass on the Patagonian riverbanks.
• A 2021 study showed that it disperses mosses by endozoochory: 50% of the bryophyte fragments recovered from its droppings regenerated new tissue after 91 days.
• It is the most widespread of the five South American sheldgeese.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Steppe, scrub and parkland, especially water meadows and grassland under 20 cm tall close to water. It lives from the province of Buenos Aires and the Maule Region southwards

Birth weight

Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours

Size at birth

Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours

Sexual maturity

2 years

Gestation / incubation

~30 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

5-8 eggs per clutch

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; Ministerio del Medio Ambiente de Chile (RCE, 19.º proceso); SIB - Parques Nacionales de Argentina; Lázaro, Mackenzie y Jiménez 2021, Ecology and Evolution; Schüttler et al. 2009; Rozzi y Sherriffs 2003; Ibarra et al. 2009; Peris et al. 2009; Gmelin 1789

Best time: All year round in Patagonia; it migrates to the south of Buenos Aires in winter

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.