Animal field guide
Cotton Pygmy Goose
Nettapus coromandelianus
At about 26 cm and 200 g the Cotton Pygmy Goose is the smallest waterfowl in the world, light enough to feed among floating lily leaves on ponds too choked with vegetation for a larger duck to use at all.
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Get AnimalDexCotton Pygmy Goose at a glance
Bird · Native range keys: south_asia · Relatively common
Known for: Tiny, White head and underparts with a dark cap and a, Broad white wing bar, Feeds among floating lily pads rather than upending
Understand the animal
Understand the Cotton Pygmy Goose
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to Cotton Pygmy Goose
At about 26 cm and 200 g the Cotton Pygmy Goose is the smallest waterfowl in the world, light enough to feed among floating lily leaves on ponds too choked with vegetation for a larger duck to use at all.
How to identify a Cotton Pygmy Goose
- Tiny, about 26 cm — smaller than many pigeons
- White head and underparts with a dark cap and a glossy dark back
- Broad white wing bar, very obvious in flight
- Feeds among floating lily pads rather than upending in open water
Why Cotton Pygmy Goose are interesting
- It is the smallest waterfowl species in the world, at roughly 160-200 g.
- Despite the name it is a perching duck, and it nests in tree cavities near water rather than on the ground.
- Its main food is the seeds and vegetative parts of water lilies, reached by picking from the surface among the leaves.
- The male's dark neck collar appears in the breeding season and largely disappears outside it.
- It is widespread across South and Southeast Asia but declining where seasonal wetlands are drained.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does Cotton Pygmy Goose behave this way?
- Tiny, about 26 cm — smaller than many pigeons
- White head and underparts with a dark cap and a glossy dark back
- Broad white wing bar, very obvious in flight
- Feeds among floating lily pads rather than upending in open water
Active by day, resting through the hottest hours on floating vegetation or a low branch, and roosting near or on the water at night.
04
Why Native range keys: south_asia?
Habitat: Native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed.
Native range: Native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed.
Native range
Natural range, not this specific capture location.
Native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed.
05
Why this diet?
Water lily seeds and shoots, other aquatic plants, and some insects and crustaceans, picked from the surface while swimming among floating leaves. That feeding position is only available to something light enough not to sink the mat.
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Active by day, resting through the hottest hours on floating vegetation or a low branch, and roosting near or on the water at night.
Around eight to ten years in the wild.
07
Cotton Pygmy Goose reproduction
Six to twelve eggs in a tree cavity, sometimes well away from the water. Ducklings jump down and are led to the lily beds within a day of hatching.
Clear in the breeding season: the male has a glossy green-black cap, a dark neck collar and a bold white wing bar. The female is duller, with a dark eye-stripe and a much reduced wing bar.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 34/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 34/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
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Ask AnimalDex about the Cotton Pygmy Goose
Ask about its biology, behavior, abilities, survival strategy, symbolism, or what its strategy can teach you. Answers stay grounded in this species page.
Anonymous: 3/day. Signed-in: 10/day. Pro: 30/day fair use.
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Where to find them
Where to find Cotton Pygmy Goose
To find Cotton Pygmy Goose in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed. than by covering too much ground.
- Quiet marsh edges, reedbeds, river bends, or shallow wetland margins
- Headlands, reef edges, island colonies, tidal channels, or productive coastal water
- Protected habitat blocks within native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed.
Animal field guide
Cotton Pygmy Goose
At about 26 cm and 200 g the Cotton Pygmy Goose is the smallest waterfowl in the world, light enough to feed among floating lily leaves on ponds too choked with vegetation for a larger duck to use at all.
Native range
Natural range, not this capture location
Native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed.
Search near meAnimalDex stats
Dominance
20
Speed
56
Size
13
Intelligence
30
Rarity
34%
Total
153
Size scale
Scientific name
Nettapus coromandelianus
Category
Bird
Habitat
Native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed.
Rarity
Relatively common · 34/100
Native range
Native range keys: south_asia, southeast_asia, australia_oceania. Still and slow fresh water thick with floating vegetation — lily-covered ponds, tanks, oxbows and flooded fields, with mature trees nearby for nest cavities. Both the vegetation mat and the cavity tree are needed.
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