Type of bird - London (1 Viewer)

[Piratesfan123]

Can anyone tell me what type of bird this is

 

[Phil Bishop]

Egyptian geese

 

[Bitis]

Agree. It's an invasive species, originally from Africa as its name suggest.

 

[Deb Burhinus]

Can anyone tell me what type of bird this is

Hi Piratesfan123

Welcome to Birdforum! 🙂

As the others have said, these are Egyptian Geese.

They were originally introduced to the UK as parts of Wildfowl collections for their rather attractive and exotic plumage way back in C17th. There is now a substantial feral population breeding in Norfolk of over 1,000 pairs (where they originally took foot in the wild) and they are quite abundant in London and the Home Counties as well as a population growing in the East Midlands. As far as being ‘invasive’ there’s no evidence they are cross breeding with native geese or competing for habitat but the populations are expanding so time will tell. The winter weather acts as a natural population suppressant since Egyptian Geeses breed in late winter rather than the spring compared to other Geese (although Climate Change might be improving chick survival). Egyptian chicks running around on my local patch is a regular sight in early to late March. As far as ‘invasive species’ go though, they are, in their current nembers, relatively harmless.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum! I am sure that you will find lots to interest you here and I hope that you enjoy your visits.

 

[aeshna5]

Hi Piratesfan123

Welcome to Birdforum! 🙂

As the others have said, these are Egyptian Geese.

They were originally introduced to the UK as parts of Wildfowl collections for their rather attractive and exotic plumage way back in C17th. There is now a substantial feral population breeding in Norfolk of over 1,000 pairs (where they originally took foot in the wild) and they are quite abundant in London and the Home Counties as well as a population growing in the East Midlands. As far as being ‘invasive’ there’s no evidence they are cross breeding with native geese or competing for habitat but the populations are expanding so time will tell. The winter weather acts as a natural population suppressant since Egyptian Geeses breed in late winter rather than the spring compared to other Geese (although Climate Change might be improving chick survival). Egyptian chicks running around on my local patch is a regular sight in early to late March. As far as ‘invasive species’ go though, they are, in their current nembers, relatively harmless.

Here in London, Egyptian Geese do indeed breed in late winter but also in spring & summer too. Numbers have rocketed here in the last decade & there are few water bodies without at least a pair but often many more. Not sure if they are a real problem yet.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum!

We are glad that you found us and please join in wherever you like.

 

[Deb Burhinus]

I w

Here in London, Egyptian Geese do indeed breed in late winter but also in spring & summer too. Numbers have rocketed here in the last decade & there are few water bodies without at least a pair but often many more. Not sure if they are a real problem yet.

I wonder if some of those are second clutches? Some of them double brood as well (that’s an average of 9 chicks a clutch) so something must still be suppressing the populations - where I am, I’ve not seen any Egyptian Geese goslings after May afaicr so maybe it’s habitat related or depends on other species using the waterways?

This may be of interest

https://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/BO/article/download/290/331/

 

[aeshna5]

I w

I wonder if some of those are second clutches? Some of them double brood as well (that’s an average of 9 chicks a clutch) so something must still be suppressing the populations - where I am, I’ve not seen any Egyptian Geese goslings after May afaicr so maybe it’s habitat related or depends on other species using the waterways?

This may be of interest

https://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/BO/article/download/290/331/

You're correct some are second clutches. I follow Ralph Hancock's daily blog which covers the bird (& some other wildlife) of Kensington Gardens & Hyde Park & some of the birds are known to him. Some are really lousy parents & fail to fledge any young as there's a lot of predation by Herring & Lesser Black-backed Gulls in particular. One of the latter is a specialist Feral Pigeon predator & takes one of more every single day by snatching & then drowning them (there are some of his videos on You Tube-not for the squeamish!). Despite the heavy toll on goslings the park now has a very large population at times exceeding a hundred birds.

Thanks for the link-useful reading. I do enjoy watching these birds.