Spur-winged goose
Plectropterus gambensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
The spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis) is a species in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. Recorded adults weigh 3.87 kg to 6.1 kg and live up to 11.3 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the spur-winged goose
- Weight
- 3.87 kg – 6.1 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 11.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 31.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6.5 – 9.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the spur-winged goose live?
Not recorded
What is the spur-winged goose?
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.
From the Wikipedia article “Spur-winged goose” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spur-winged_goose&oldid=1337657393), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the spur-winged goose endangered?
The spur-winged goose is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the spur-winged goose classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusPlectropterus
- SpeciesPlectropterus gambensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms Gambo galaria
Other names and names in other languages (44)
- Spurwing gooseEnglish
- SWGOEnglish
- WildemakouAfrikaans
- إوز أبو قرنArabic
- Gwaz kentrekBreton
- oca esperonadaCatalan
- pižmovka ostruhatáCzech
- SporegåsDanish
- SporngansGerman
- SporengansGerman
- Sprona tadornoEsperanto
- spronflugila anseroEsperanto
- Ganso espolonadoSpanish
- Ganso con espolonesSpanish
- toonehaniEstonian
- kynsihanhiFinnish
- Oie-armée de GambieFrench
- Gé sporeiteachIrish
- אווז שחורHebrew
- tüskésszárnyú lúdHungarian
- SporöndIcelandic
- Oca armataItalian
- Oca dallo speroneItalian
- ツメバガンJapanese
- pentinuotoji žąsisLithuanian
- piešspārnu zossLatvian
- SpoorwiekgansDutch
- gęsiecPolish
- Gęsiec gambijskiPolish
- pato-ferrãoPortuguese
- Шпорцевый гусьRussian
- Обыкновенный шпорцевый гусьRussian
- GovussoadjačuonjáNorthern Sami
- ostrožiarka leskláSlovak
- ostrožkaSlovenian
- Ostrugasta guskaSerbian
- sporrgåsSwedish
- Mahmuzlu KazTurkish
- letsukweTswana
- sefudimatshikhwíTswana
- шпорокрилUkrainian
- 距翅雁Chinese
- iHoyeZulu
- iHopheZulu
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the spur-winged goose
Other species in the same family Anatidae.
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Greylag goose
Anser anser
Northern pintail
Anas acuta
Mute swan
Cygnus olor
Eurasian teal
Anas crecca
Ruddy shelduck
Tadorna ferruginea
CompareSpur-winged goose vs MallardSpur-winged goose vs Greylag gooseSpur-winged goose vs Northern pintailSpur-winged goose vs Mute swan
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the spur-winged goose?
An adult spur-winged goose weighs 3.87 kg – 6.1 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the spur-winged goose endangered?
The spur-winged goose is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the spur-winged goose live?
The spur-winged goose has a recorded lifespan of 11.3 years.
What kind of animal is the spur-winged goose?
The spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis) belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spur-winged-goose
“Spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spur-winged-goose.
@misc{spur_winged_goose_2026,
title = {Spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spur-winged-goose},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}