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Egyptian Geese are large, heavyset aquatic birds. Their plumage shows some variations. The head is mostly grey, except for some brown around the base of the bill and prominent brown patches around the eyes. The upper neck is mainly grey, with spiky feathers, below which a brown neck band goes all round the neck. The neck band is widest at the back. The lower neck is pinkish-grey, the chest, belly and vent are grey. The wing coverts are brownish-grey, with brown ends of the feathers. Both the flight feathers and the uppertail are dark-grey. Some specimens have large white shoulder patches. The irises are orange-yellow. The bill is pink with a dark-grey tip. The legs and feet are greyish-pink.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Egyptian Goose is available HERE .

Egyptian Geese populate basically all of Africa South of the Sahara desert (except parts of the West-African coast) and the River Nile valley. Outside the breeding season they disperse widely. There are also introduced wild populations, e.g. in parts of Europe.

Egyptian Geese are listed as vagrants in some parts of Arabia, where they have been found mainly along the North coast, in the UAE and on the Musandam peninsula, in the border region with Oman.

In their natural range, Egyptian Geese are flexible in their requirements and will breed basically anywhere except deserts and closed forest. Introduced populations, but also vagrant birds, are often found in parks, in particular around lakes and marshes.

We have not seen an Egyptian Goose in Oman yet. The photos below were taken in Europe and Africa.