So near the office here is a park that frequently has a big flock of Canadian geese in it. I’m no bird watcher, ornithologist or what have you, but if you look at the wiki page they are obviously Canadian geese (I’d have no hope of identifying subspecies or anything like that.) Basically they look like what most Americans think of when they think of “goose.”
However, in the last week I’ve seen one solitary bird that is right in with them, but looks very different.
In physical size, it appears about as large as the geese. However, it has red markings on its head. Further, if you look at a Canada goose you’ll notice the black head/neck, the ends of its wing feathers are darker, and the gray on its back is a dark gray. This bird I’m seeing has a much lighter gray, it really stands out with the geese around it (since they have dark black, it has a lighter gray coloring.)
It also has a shorter neck and looks slightly “duck like”, but in physical size/weight it’s bigger looking than any duck I’ve seen.
So basically we’ve got a bird with the rough body size of a goose, red markings on its head, light gray coloring down its neck and back and a neck somewhat shorter than that of a Canada goose. Anyone know what it might be?
Two options spring to mind. One, as noted by DrFidelius, is the domestic or Greylag Goose. A “purebred” Greylag is noticeably larger than your average Canada Goose, and has a stockier build. They hybridize with Canada Geese, so that might be it.
The other option, given that you say that it looks like a really big duck, is the Muscovy Duck. Muscovies are also an escaped feral species, and are noticeably larger than your average mallard. The red markings on the head are like the “warts” on a turkey. Their coloration is usually some combination of white or iridescent black; I’ve never heard of a grey one, but it might still be a possibility.
ETA: Here are some pics of grey-ish Muscovy ducks: 1, 2, 3. So it’s not unheard of.
The Muscovy Duck looks like a good candidate. The first time I saw it a few weeks ago what stopped me wasn’t just the red coloring but also the fact that something about the red part of its head was almost reminiscent of a turkey in that it seemed slightly “different” than just red coloring. The first time I saw it was the closest I’ve been to it, but I didn’t stop to get a really good look.
The second time I saw it I actually took a picture, on my cell phone, I was in a hurry so I didn’t get a chance to take a good look at the picture at the time but it had started turning and flapping its wings at the moment I snapped it so I figured it wouldn’t be very good. I just looked at it, and while it is kind of obscured you can make out a few details about the bird, here is the picture in question.
There are no waterfowl native to the US that fit the description. There are a few ducks like Canvasback, Redhead, and female mergansers that have red on the head, but they are much, much smaller than geese.
Possibilities include some exotic species that has escaped from a zoo or collection (although I can’t think of anything that exactly matches the description) or an oddly colored domestic goose (or one with its head stained by red mud).
The photo rules out any wild species anywhere. While I can’t see any details of the head, a domestic Muscovy is a good possibility. If the red on the head is actually bare skin that would clinch it.
**Martin Hyde’s **picture isn’t the best, but it does look like a Muscovy to me. The domesticated version, at that, not the wild type.
The US Fish & Wildlife Service has recently ruled the wild type Muscovy a “native” species, mostly due to the fact that this primarily Mexican species breeds in a couple of counties in Texas. But again, this mottled dark and white bird with the distinctive red wattling on the head looks (as best I can tell from that picture) like the domestic poultry version. These are extremely common as feral populations in many locations.
Colibri, my apology for the simulpost. You got it.
Not necessarily large numbers escaped / released. Understand that domestic fowl breeds are selected for (among other things) reproductive capacity. We want them to grow fast and make lots more of themselves so we can eat them (or their eggs - think chickens). Domestic Muscovy ducks are fecund. So when a couple are dumped in a neighborhood pond, they often replicate themselves, sometimes forming large populations. And some will wander away to other locations. They fly quite well if not excessively fattened on concentrated poultry feed.
They are though often rather clueless in the outdoors, doing poorly at foraging and often displaying nutritional deficiency syndromes unless food is supplemented by humans. They are also socially clueless, and will flock with just about any other duck-like creature inhabiting their particular corner of the world. They will, as those of us who know them up close and personal may suggest with tongue only partly in cheek, they will screw an army helmet. So no surprise this one is hanging around with geese. What the geese think about it is probably irrelevant to this bird.
When I lived in St. Pete, Florida, my apartment was a few blocks away from a city park with a small freshwater lake. Muscovies were probably the most common bird species (save seagulls) I would see hanging out there; the place was lousy with them. The Wikipedia article (and the link therein) puts the Florida populations in the tens to hundreds of thousands; as noted by CannyDan, the population breeds at a self-sustaining level. Of course, Florida has a very similar climate to the subtropical areas to which the species is native, so it stands to reason that they’d be particularly successful there.
Now I’m amused by the irony of Muscovy ducks in St. Petersburg.
The Muscovy was originally native to South and Central America. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples and then spread to other areas by the Spanish. Although there was initially much confusion about where the species originated (like the “Turkey”), it appears that the name is not derived from Moscow, but from the “musky” odor of the species. The original form of the name in English was most likely Musk Duck.
