Usually seen in large flocks of several thousand flying with neck outstretched and strong, laboured flight, with pronounced black 'fingered' wing tips. Roosts in tall vegetation. Feeds on aquatic vegetation, wild grasses including Bulkuru Sedge and Wild Rice. Uses strong, clawed feet to dig for corms.

Found in freshwater swamps, floodplains, margins of rivers, lagoons, billabongs.