Egyptian sighting in Irvine, CA

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

I was at a manmade lake in Irvine in the planned community of Woodbridge today with my sisters and while paddling in a canoe, my sister pointed out these geese to me and said that they were agressive mean geese... ready to defend the geese, thinking they were just africans or maybe chinese-the sort I generally see at parks with ponds-I noticed these birds looked very different and very small. WHen we got closer I saw the vivid colors and strange patternization around the eyes and was amazed that there were egyptian geese on the bank of this manmade lake in Irvine! There were 5 of them and they were quite small, had no keels whatsoever and had very long pink legs. I've never seen an egyptian goose in person before so I was very excited to see their beautiful plumage up close... We got about 5 feet away in the canoe and they started loudly hissing and stood their ground, my sister said they normally scream if you walk near them. Here are a few shots of them;

It was such a strange thing to see this particular goose at a park here. They are generally very hard to get a hold of in the first place from a hatchery.

 

[RHRanch]

yes - odd.

 

[NYRIR]

Weird, but beautiful...thanks for sharing

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
They fly like birds, very well, the usual practice is to pinion them shortly after they hatch because clipping a wing to keep them on the ground is a hassle. Someone probably had goslings and didn' know how to manage them. Fish & Game will try to capture or kill them they are too mean to be on the loose.

 

[crj]

Interesting looking geese. They look very young. They may be afraid of people.

 

[LAseramas KP]

cool looking duck or geese ,,,,,.....

 

[Speceider]

They look very young.

That pic is a breeder gander. Egyptians have established populations in several European countries and they are working hard to eleiminate them there. Here in the states, there are some (I think Oregon is one) that it is illegal to keep them for the very reason that there is concern they could escape and become established. It's unfortunate that cases like this can jeapordize our ability to keep these birds.

Clint

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
yep look what they are doing to the muscovies in Fl.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

I had no idea that domesticated geese that become established in any number would be percieved as a threat... Southern California has many, many different types of birds that have no business existing here, but have become well established and very common; my city and several surrounding cities have large wild green parrots in small and very large flocks depending on the neighborhood, we also have english sparrows by the millions and european starlings by the millions. Sometimes they intervene with the starling population, but everything else seems very welcome, or at least put up with.

 

[Dr. Todd]

Egyptian Geese are a wild species, Alopochen aegyptiacus, like Canada Geese, not a domesticated breed. They are quite capable of forming feral populations and have done so in mainland Europe and the UK. These escapees and feral flocks are a black eye to bird-keepers and are often used as fodder by agencies trying to restrict our ability to keep birds. Please don't encourage them.
DT