Alopochen aegyptiaca
Silhouette: LordToran · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is an African member of the Anatidae family including ducks, geese, and swans. Because of its popularity chiefly as an ornamental bird, the species has also been introduced to Europe, the United States, and elsewhere outside its natural range. Egyptian geese were regularly represented in ancient Egyptian art.
The Egyptian goose was formally described in 1766 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas aegyptiaca. Linnaeus partly based his account on the L'oye d'Egypte that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Ornithologie. Brisson used the Latin name Anser Egyptiatiacus, and although he coined Latin names for species, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The Egyptian goose is now placed with the extinct Mauritius sheldgoose and the extinct Reunion sheldgoose in the genus Alopochen that was introduced in 1885 by Norwegian-born zoologist Leonhard Stejneger. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised. The... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Amsterdam | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 3 | Brussels | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 4 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 5 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Cologne | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Egyptian Goose sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 231st most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Egyptian Goose in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Egyptian Goose sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
57th of 57
Of the 57 parks where we can rate Egyptian Goose sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 57th at under 5%. The best odds are in Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 80%), Lake Nakuru National Park (Kenya, about 80%) and Amboseli National Park (Kenya, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Egyptian Goose that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Blue-winged Teal (about 50%), Northern Shoveler (about 40%) and Lesser Scaup (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Egyptian Goose is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (33 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
