Pygmy goose
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Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Anatinae
Genus: Nettapus

[Photo] Female and male Cotton Pgymy Geese (Nettapus coromandelianus) in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Date 2.2.07. Author: J.M.Garg (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:J.M.Garg).

Copyright (C) 2007 J. M. Garg Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

The pygmy geese are a group of very small "perching ducks" in the genus Nettapus which breed in the Old World tropics. They are the smallest of all wildfowl. As the "perching ducks" are a paraphyletic group (Livezey 1986), they need to be placed elsewhere. The initially assumed relationship with the dabbling duck subfamily Anatinae has been questioned, and it appears they form a lineage in an ancient Gondwanan radiation of waterfowl, within which they are of unclear affinities (Sraml et al. 1996).

There are three species in the genus

- Green Pygmy Goose Nettapus pulchellus of northern Australia and southern New Guinea.
- Cotton Pygmy Goose Nettapus coromandelianus of Southeast Asia.
- African Pygmy Goose Nettapus auritus of sub-Saharan Africa.

Their habitat is still freshwater lakes, where these neat ducks feed on seeds and other vegetation, especially water lilies.

Pygmy geese have short bills, rounded heads and short legs. They nest in tree holes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_goose

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