Geographic areas
(BirdLife International 2016, except as noted)
- Australia
- Mainly northern and eastern Australia
- Northern Australian contains the major breeding and dry season refuge areas (Peter Bayliss, personal communication, 2018)
- Southern Australia
- Resident population west of Melbourne
- Reintroduced to several locations in southern and southeastern Australia (Nye et al. 2007)
- Nearly disappeared from southern regions
- See “Historic distribution,” below
- Reported outside usual range, especially during extended dry seasons in northern Australia (Carboneras and Kirwan 2017)
- Tasmania (Johnsgard 1965; Frith 1967; Carboneras and Kirwan 2017)
- Southern New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea)
Proximity to coast
- Usually found within 300 km (186 mi) of the coast (Frith 1967; Carboneras and Kirwan 2017)
- Occasionally occurs in more inland, arid regions (Frith and Davies 1961; Heron 1973; Kingsford and Porter 1993)
- Flood events fill ephemeral lakes in central Australia (Kingsford and Porter 1993)
- Breeding can occur if rainfall is sufficient (Frith 1967)
- High gosling mortality when water disappears too early
Historic distribution
- Abundant in southeastern Australia prior to European settlement (Nye et al. 2007; Olsen 2010)
- Included breeding colonies (Frith 1967)
- Locally extinct in this region by 1920, due to:
- Wetland damage and drainage
- Overhunting
- Sightings on east coast in late 1970s and early 1980s
- Historically, more abundant in northern than southeastern Australia (Nye et al. 2007)
- Records as far south as Tasmania (Nye et al. 2007)
- No evidence of breeding in Tasmania
- Also see Frith and Davies (1961) for discussion
