Egyptian Goose

Alopochen aegyptiaca

Wetlands. Rufous neck and upper body; pale below; pink legs.

Ducks, Geese

Not Endemic

Description

Abundant resident. Distinguished from [South African Shelduck] by long neck, long pink legs, pink bill and rufous eye-patches. Immature is duller. Very noisy in social interactions; male utters a husky wheezing sound, female a harsh, nasal, high-pitched ‘hur-hur-hur-hur’. Both sexes extend the head and neck when calling. Pairs occupy small waters or sections of rivers, but large numbers often gather on deep waters to moult their wing feathers or on sandbanks when large rivers are in spate. Often flies in the evening to communal grazing grounds. Common even in built-up areas, as long as some open water surfaces are available.

Quick Facts

Bird Family

Most of the region's ducks are either migratory to some extent or locally nomadic, their movements being dictated by food, rainfall and breeding requirements. Many show marked plumage differences between the sexes. Ducks and geese undergo a flightless four-to-eight-week period each year when they moult all their flight feathers simultaneously. The large Spur-winged and Egyptian Geese differ from geese of the northern hemisphere in having longer bills and legs, the African Pygmy-Goose being our only representative of the ‘true' geese. Ducks of the genus *Dendrocygna* (whistling ducks), which include the White-faced and Fulvous whistling ducks, differ from those of other genera in having close-set legs placed well back on the body. This enables them to stand erect and walk without waddling. In addition they show no sexual dimorphism and have whistling voices. In contrast, ducks of the genus *Anas*, often referred to as dabbling ducks, have widely spaced legs placed centrally on the body. This causes them to stand with the body horizontally and to walk with a waddle. They are further typified by quacking voices.