| Anseriformes |
| Birds are a very large family of animals, so many, that they are broken down into groups by order, according to the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy- a new and increasingly approved taxonomy based on DNA analysis, as opposed to the older taxonomy, which was more based on appearance, geography, and behavior. |
| Egyptian Goose |
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Species:
Alopochen aegyptiacus Length: 63-73cm |
| In Zambia, the Egyptian Goose is quite common. We saw them all
over the South Luangwa National Park region, both inside and outside the
park. The are a common goose, related to geese all over the world, and closely related to ducks as well. The geese are common in the Nile Valley, and were sacred to the ancient Egyptians, featuring prominently in their art. |
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The guy above is the same as the leftmost one here, shown with an African open-billed stork on the right. These were wading on the edge of a pond inside South Luangwa National Park. |
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| We saw quite a few of them outside the park. This and the next several pictures were taken at the site where my archaeologist brother-in-law was digging (see separate entry on the Zambia page). | ||
| This was also taken at the archaeological dig site. Geese and ducks, being closely related, also behave similarly. |  |
