---
title: "Pato-ferrão"
description: "Plectropterus gambensis — Aves. The spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis) is a large, Sub-Saharan African waterbird in the family Anatidae, which includes geese and shelducks."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/spur-winged-goose
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Pato-ferrão

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

- Scientific name: *Plectropterus gambensis*
- Category: `birds` (Aves)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lagos e rios)
- iNaturalist observations: 5175
- Wikidata: [Q247412](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q247412)
- iNaturalist taxon: [7146](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/7146)

## Names

- en: Spur-winged Goose
- de: Sporngans
- es: Ganso espolonado
- fr: Oie-armée de Gambie
- nl: Plectropterus
- pt: Pato-ferrão
- pl: Gęsiec

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (3053), BW (508), TZ (227), NA (196), ZM (136), ZW (102), KE (99), RW (98), MW (94), SN (78), ET (77), BJ (75)

## Summary

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.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spur-winged_goose

## Photo

![Pato-ferrão](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/spur-winged-goose/medium.jpg)

Photo: Paula Zermoglio · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/277559550

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/spur-winged-goose?lang=pt` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).