Chloephaga picta
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The upland goose or Magellan goose (Chloephaga picta) is a sheldgoose of the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans. Sheldgeese resemble true geese and display similar habits, yet they are more closely related to shelducks and ducks.
This species nests and breeds close to water (rivers, ponds, oceans) either on the ground or near it among vegetation, usually in grasslands or coastal meadows in the Falkland Islands or in southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego at the beginning of the austral summer. Population estimates suggest the insular subpopulations are stable, but continental populations show a recent decline in abundance. Upland geese are herbivorous, specializing in plant leaves, stems and seeds.
The upland goose was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas picta. Gmelin based his description on the "painted goose" that had been included by the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Zürich Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 4 | Paris Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Parc Phœnix | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Aquarium du palais de la Porte Dorée | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Zoobotánico Jerez | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Zoo d'Amiens | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Wow Safari Thoiry | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Reserva Tatu Carreta | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 11 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 12 | Réserve africaine de Thoiry | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Wildlife World Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 15 | Centro Cicogne e Anatidi | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 16 | Karlsruhe Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 17 | Zoo Aquarium de Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 18 | La Plata Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 19 | Attica Zoological Park | 🇬🇷 Greece | |
| 20 | Зоопарк ХІІ Місяців | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 21 | Faunia | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 22 | Biotropica | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 23 | Vogel- und Tierpark Irgenöd | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 24 | Buttonwood Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Medenychi Zoo Limpopo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 26 | Natura Parc | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 27 | Avifauna | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 28 | Château of Thoiry | 🇫🇷 France |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Upland Goose sighting in Península Valdés on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 78th most-seen of the 96 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Upland Goose in Península Valdés on a given day, against under 5% in February–May and September–December, the lowest months. June and July have too few records to rate.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Upland Goose sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Upland Goose sightings, Península Valdés ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, about 80%), Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 80%) and Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina, about 10%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Upland Goose that you can see in Península Valdés (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Crested Duck (about 50%) and Flying Steamer-Duck (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Upland Goose is recorded against all the birds logged in Península Valdés (25 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
