Spur-winged Goose

Plectropterus gambensis (Linnaeus, 1766)

75–115 cmLength3.9 kgWeight

The spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis) is a large, Sub-Saharan African waterbird in the family Anatidae, which includes geese and shelducks.

Busiest months: November · Most records: South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania

Least Concern

Where and when it's recorded

Spur-winged Goose has been recorded at 395 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 33 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Strandfontein WTPSouth Africa2,063 records
Ngorongoro Conservation Area – Ngorongoro CraterTanzania805 records
Marievale Bird SanctuarySouth Africa802 records

More places

Amboseli NPKenya515 records
Bwabwata NP – Mahango riverside loopNamibia477 records
Chobe River – boat tripBotswana472 records
Rondevlei NRSouth Africa415 records
Macaneta – Wetland, dune forests and coastMozambique408 records
Mkhuze GRSouth Africa390 records
Chobe River – west of KasaneBotswana302 records

Countries and regions with the most records

South Africa Botswana Tanzania Zambia Kenya Namibia Rwanda Uganda

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis) is a large, Sub-Saharan African waterbird in the family Anatidae, which includes geese and shelducks. However, P. gambensis developed unique environmental adaptations, which resulted in the evolution of several anatomical features that are not shared with other anatids; thus, the species has been classified one step further into its own subfamily, the Plectropterinae.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia