Egyptian Goose
Alopochen aegyptiaca · isiZulu: iLongwe
🔍 Enlarge Here all year
What it sounds like
A rasping, klaxon-like honking that carries right across a suburb, very often from a roof. The surprise is which bird is making it: the loud raucous racket is the FEMALE. The male answers with a quiet, breathy hiss, so a noisy pair sounds oddly one-sided.
Richard White, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0How to recognise it
Not really a goose at all. It is a shelduck, closer kin to ducks than to true geese. Look for the chocolate smudge around a pale eye, a second dark patch in the middle of the belly, pink legs and a pink bill; in flight the wings flash startling white. They pair for life and go about in twos, so a single bird usually means the other is sitting on eggs nearby. Around here you are most likely to meet one paddling on a swimming pool, which they take to as readily as a dam. A pair will happily bring a line of goslings to yours. They also nest surprisingly high, on flat roofs and in chimneys, which is why the honking sometimes comes from directly above your ceiling. Give a family with goslings a wide berth: a parent will square up to a dog without a moment's hesitation, and usually wins.
🔍 Enlarge Seen in Manor Gardens
Nobody has logged a Egyptian Goose here yet. If you spot one, you will be the first on the record.
