tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post4557062337784857289..comments2024-03-28T20:29:39.377+00:00Comments on Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park birds: Ralph Hancockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-46334072431579134922012-06-25T21:48:06.116+01:002012-06-25T21:48:06.116+01:00Sorry to hear about the break-in.
Distinguishing ...Sorry to hear about the break-in.<br /><br />Distinguishing the sex of Egyptian Geese is quite difficult for humans, although the birds themselves have no trouble (unlike true geese and grebes, where embarrassing mistakes are common). If they have young, the young ones will follow their mother. They are 'imprinted' on her, because she is the first thing they see when they emerge from the egg.<br /><br />Normally the plumage of the sexes is the same. There are two pairs of Egyptian Geese in the park where the female doesn't have the usual brown eye patch, but this seems to be mere chance. Males are slightly larger on average. Males have a quieter quack; females quack very noisily when repelling threats to their young. But males have a courtship display in which they honk loudly, a different kind of sound.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-38059258864074036622012-06-25T21:33:53.156+01:002012-06-25T21:33:53.156+01:00Thank you so much for another installment of '...Thank you so much for another installment of 'Life in the Parks' to cheer me up. I have just got back from a demanding day's work, dealing with a break-in at my elderly cousin's house in Woking. Is there a way of telling the male from the female Egyptian Goose, apart from the differing roles they seem to assume as parents?Elizabethnoreply@blogger.com