MapleKehDucks
Chirping
In the late summer of 2020, we had two strange birds arrive at our stock tank. They were much larger than the whistling ducks who would often pass through. Our small flock of domestic ducks always seemed to enjoy the visitors. But these new birds made a strange sound. My husband thought they were geese because he heard a honk, but I said they were ducks because of their appearance. I began my research immediately. I looked all over the internet for every native/wild duck or goose in the state of Texas or in the general south. I could NOT find this bird! I gave up trying to sound intelligent, and Googled "duck with brown spot on chest and yellow eyes." I immediately get results; it's an Egyptian Goose. Native to the Sahara area in Egypt, this bird was introduced to other regions by people wanting to jazz up their resorts and gold courses with exotic birds. They call the ones who are wild "escapees." They are actually a DUCK but got the name "goose" because they have a slight honk to their quack. (So their babies are ducklings, NOT goslings) The females quack/honk and the males have an exotic rattle sound they make. Oh, and they mate for life.
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
Because I have a small flock that is my #1 priority, I made sure they were not aggressive. I watched how they swam and ate freely with my birds. They only seemed to dislike being close to humans. Anytime I would go out to feed my ducks, they would calmly walk away to the water and have a swim until I left again.
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
What a treat! I had two of these beauties in my own backyard. Oh I really hoped they were a mated pair (males and females look exactly the same- just make different sounds). My kids wanted to see a little bunch of babies swimming around! We went through the fall, we went through the Texan winter (where we had snow on the ground for a whole week - first time since 1985). And when the sun returned and the grass began to grow green again, there they were! STILL with us!
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
One day I went out to try and capture a picture of these beautiful birds. I snapped my first picture hiding behind a tree... and what did I see? THREE EGYPTIAN GEESE!
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
Uh oh, we had an extra male that was trying to get our female. Well, our guy was not going to put up with this foolishness. I watched as our guy swooped at this intruder
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
over and over,
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
returning to the female after every attack to rattle his man-call into the air with pride.
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
Not today buddy, and not tomorrow, this lady is SPOKEN FOR.
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
The males would drop their wings down to show off their iridescent green feathers so it was easy to tell them apart from the female. It was such a neat thing to watch! I wanted to share my pictures here for others to enjoy. I love my ducks so much, they're so happy all the time and they always make me smile.
P.S. The next day we had ANOTHER male come by, and our guy fought them both off quite ferociously until they left. A lot of biting and flapping wings. Yikes!
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
Because I have a small flock that is my #1 priority, I made sure they were not aggressive. I watched how they swam and ate freely with my birds. They only seemed to dislike being close to humans. Anytime I would go out to feed my ducks, they would calmly walk away to the water and have a swim until I left again.
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
What a treat! I had two of these beauties in my own backyard. Oh I really hoped they were a mated pair (males and females look exactly the same- just make different sounds). My kids wanted to see a little bunch of babies swimming around! We went through the fall, we went through the Texan winter (where we had snow on the ground for a whole week - first time since 1985). And when the sun returned and the grass began to grow green again, there they were! STILL with us!
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
One day I went out to try and capture a picture of these beautiful birds. I snapped my first picture hiding behind a tree... and what did I see? THREE EGYPTIAN GEESE!
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
Uh oh, we had an extra male that was trying to get our female. Well, our guy was not going to put up with this foolishness. I watched as our guy swooped at this intruder
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
over and over,
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
returning to the female after every attack to rattle his man-call into the air with pride.
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
Not today buddy, and not tomorrow, this lady is SPOKEN FOR.
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
The males would drop their wings down to show off their iridescent green feathers so it was easy to tell them apart from the female. It was such a neat thing to watch! I wanted to share my pictures here for others to enjoy. I love my ducks so much, they're so happy all the time and they always make me smile.
P.S. The next day we had ANOTHER male come by, and our guy fought them both off quite ferociously until they left. A lot of biting and flapping wings. Yikes!
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
(pic by: MapleKehDucks)
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