Egyptian Goose Life History

Habitat

Egyptian Geese inhabit water bodies in open settings, including rivers, lakes, estuaries, reservoirs, marshes, sewage works, large ponds, and ephemeral pans. They also occur in meadows and grasslands.

Food

Egyptian Geese eat primarily plants. They often feed on grain crops, such as corn, wheat, oats, groundnuts, barley, and alfalfa, and can cause considerable agricultural damage. They also feed on the shoots and seeds of grasses, flowers, herbs, leaves, and aquatic plants. Egyptian Geese forage both on land and in shallow water mainly by pecking and dabbling at food.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Nest is usually on the ground, but is sometimes placed in a tree up to 24 meters (80 feet) high.

Nest Description

Nest is a large, loose cup nest, built with whatever materials are available, and typically lined with grasses, leaves, and parents’ down feathers. In sub-Saharan Africa, nests are 23–45 cm (9–18 inches) wide and 7–10 cm (3–4 inches) deep.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Egyptian Geese spend considerable time on land, often perching in trees and on cars, roofs, docks, poles, etc. They are strong fliers, with their wings creating a loud noise in flight. They are also strong swimmers; though they don't dive, they may submerge their necks during foraging.

Egyptian Geese can be highly aggressive, especially when nesting. They usually resolve conflicts by calling, flapping their wings, and using other visual displays, but physical fights do take place, usually in water and sometimes lasting more than 5 minutes. Fighting, frequently violent, consists of two birds biting and gripping each other while repetitively striking with knobs on their wings.

Egyptian Geese are usually solitary nesters, but outside of the breeding season they form flocks that often consist of family groups banding together. These flocks may reach hundreds to thousands of birds in Africa, especially when birds forage in cereal crop fields.

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Egyptian Goose’s conservation status as Least Concern. Although the population trend appears to be declining, the population size is very large, and the species has an extremely large range. Egyptian Goose is often considered a pest in parts of its native range in Africa due to its impacts on agricultural crops, golf courses, and resorts. In Europe, where Egyptian Goose is introduced and common in some areas, it is viewed as an invasive species that could pose a threat to native waterfowl. Introduced populations in North America are increasing, creating similar concerns about interactions with native waterfowl.

Credits

BirdLife International. 2018. Alopochen aegyptiaca. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22679993A131910647. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22679993A131910647.en.

Callaghan, C. T., D. M. Brooks, and P. Pyle (2020). Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.egygoo.01

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