SWAHILI NAME FOR EGYPTIAN GOOSE: Mmisri bata bakini

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

These handsome large geese have patches of chestnut-colored feathers around each eye, which give them a spectacled appearance. Some of them have gray-brown upper parts; others are red-brown. They have black tails and yellow eyes; their bills, legs and feet are pink. Sexes are alike, but the females are somewhat smaller.

Males hiss and females make a cackling noise.

DIET:

Their staple diet consists of grass and herbs. But during the dry season, when their natural food becomes less attractive, they often visit cultivated areas and can cause considerable damage to drops. They also eat some worms and insects.

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:

Egyptian Geese are usually found inland and close to water.

They range through the Nile Valley and deep into Africa south of the Equator. They also occur in isolated regions along the east and south coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

BEHAVIOR:

Egyptian Geese are very pugnacious and aggressive, especially during breeding season. They are intolerant of other birds including individuals of their own kind and are among the most vicious of all waterfowl.

Essentially terrestrial, they spend considerable time ashore and are at ease on land. They feed both night and day, often long distances from water. They are good swimmers and dive extremely well.

REPRODUCTION and GROWTH:

Although very quarrelsome and bad-tempered by nature, they form strong pair bonds and are excellent parents.

Egyptian Geese use a surprising variety of nest sites. Some nest on the ground, some in burrows, others prefer using ledges on cliffs or old buildings. Some select abandoned nests of other birds, often high in the crowns of trees.

Parents call from below to the young that hatch at high elevations until the babies find courage to step off into space.

Females incubate a clutch of 5-8 eggs for about 28 days.

NOTE:

Egyptian Geese were domesticated by the Ancient Egyptians and figured prominently in Egyptian art of that period. They and Sacred Ibises were considered sacred. Romans and Greeks also kept them as domestic poultry.