Things You Need to Know About Egyptian Geese

ByMarc

In this video we discover seven facts about Egyptian geese that you might not already know. Here are the seven Egyptian Goose facts featured in the video:

  1. A long time friend: Egyptian geese are one of the oldest domesticated species and were first kept by the ancient Egyptians around 3,100 bc. Although ancient Egyptians are known for their love of cats, they had been keeping Egyptian geese as household pets for hundreds of years before they started to keep cats. The geese often appeared in their artwork and may have been treated as sacred.
  2. Waddle like an Egyptian: Egyptian geese are powerful but heavy flyers and it takes them a lot of effort to take off. For this reason, they will often try to walk, waddle or run away from danger only resorting to flying if they feel really threatened.
  3. Roof jumpers: Egyptian geese often nest very high up on roofs and in the crown of trees. As the parents don’t feed them, the newly hatched goslings must make a leap of faith when they first hatch, to reach the ground below. Sometimes these nests can be tens of meters high and the goslings rely on their soft downy feathers to cushion their impact with the ground.
  4. Widespread African goose: This video was filmed in the UK far far from the Egyptian gooses native range and that has been made possible thanks to people introducing them around the world. Egyptian goose can now be found living in the wild across most of Europe, North America, New Zealand and of course in their native Africa. They are now the most widespread African goose on the planet.
  5. Shell of a duck: Despite their name, Egyptian geese are not really geese at all but are actually a member of the shelduck family. This means they are closer related to Mallards than they are Greylag or Canadian geese.
  6. Early breeders: Most birds will wait until the spring to lay their first batch of eggs but not the Egyptian goose. In Africa they can breed all year round and they are usually one of the first waterfowl in the UK to nest and begin rearing their young. In some years pairs have been spotted with newly hatched goslings in early January.
  7. Long lived and loyal: In the wild Egyptian geese can live for between 15 and 25 years. They are monogamous and once they have chosen a mate they will stay together until they die.

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