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2 years ago
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COTTON PYGMY GOOSE- Scientific name:-Nettapus coromandelianus
Small individuals of this species are the smallest waterfowl on earth, at as little as 160 g (5.6 oz) and 26 cm (10 in). The goose-like bill is short and deep at the base. Males have a dark brown forehead and crown and a blackish green broad collar at the base of the neck. The sides of the head and neck are whitish. The back, wing coverts and scapulars are dark brown with green and purple gloss. The female has a duller cap and a brown line through the eye. The collar is replaced by spots and the face is flecked and neck finely vermiculated unlike the male. The non-breeding or eclipse male resembles the female except that it has the broader white wing band. In flight the male has dark wings with white flight feathers tipped in black. The female has dark wings and a white trailing edge to the secondaries and a few inner primaries.They have a red iris and black legs (greenish in breeding males) and bill.

Downy chicks have white superciliary stripes that meet at the back of the head which is black. A short dark eye stripe is present on the whitish face. The upperside of the neck is grey. The mantle is grey brown and two white patches are present on the scapulars. The tail is dark grey to black. The underside is buff.

Female in flight, the white trailing edge is restricted mainly to the secondaries.
The hind toe is narrowly lobed. The nostril is small and oval and opens close to the base of the commissure of the bill.

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