[Bristol-Birds] Exotic Egyptian Goose photographed at Saltville

Richard Kretz called Saturday afternoon with a report of an 
interesting bird he found and photographed at Saltville, VA.

It was an Egyptian Goose.  Attractively marked, particularly in 
flight when distinctive white wing-coverts are revealed, these
birds draw quick attention.  They like freshwater areas with 
grassy shores.

  
Photo by Richard Kretz

This is one of the more frequent escapees from zoos and aviaries.
Field guides, including Roger Tory Peterson's, have included them
under exotics for decades and even our most recently-published
field guides frequently include them among exotic waterfowl
which birders might expect to sometimes encounter.

And, of course, we have people all over our region who various
exotic game birds, geese and other waterfowl.  Most such birds
are largely sedentary in the wild, although some disperse short distances. 

Egyptian Geese breed widely in Africa. It is also introduced in
Great Britain and has a self-sustaining feral population, dating back to the 
18th century, though only formally added to the British list in 1971. 

Although they swim well, Egyptian geese spend most of their time on land. 
This is a largely terrestrial species, which will also perch readily on trees 
and buildings. It nests in trees. 

Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians, and 
appeared in much of their artwork.

F.C. Kirkwood of Baltimore wrote in the Jan. 1900 edition of The Auk, 
journal of The American Ornithologists' Union, that the apparent first record 
for the species seen in the wild in North America, is of one taken at Canarsie, 
Long Island, on Jan. 3, 1877, and recorded by John Akhurst of Brooklyn, N.Y., 
in the Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club in April, 1877.

Let's go birding......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol TN

JPEG image

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