Hi Tweets,

Cathy Strahm writes:

>>I saw a goose today that was totally unfamiliar to me.
>>It was perching in a
>>snag above a pond. About the size of a snow goose, it had a dark body that
>>was medium gray on back and dark gray on the chest, extending to the neck.
>>It's head was mostly white with a few small patches of gray. It had light
>>orange feet and a light-colored beak. The most striking feature it had was
>>blood-red markings around the eyes extending in thin short streaks from the
>>bottom of the eyes towards the beak. I couldn't find it in my bird book so
>>am thinking it is an exotic species or hybrid of some sort. Does anyone
>>have a clue what it might be?

Sounds like Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata, a South American duck species
that, unlike North American geese, doesn't mind sitting around on branches
low near the water, like a big Wood Duck; it's long been a domesticated duck
here, bred into a ton of strains.

A little-known fact about Muscovies is that they're the champion fly-killers
in any barnyard, and this was discovered in a serious scientific study
(sorry, no citation; it came up years ago on a CBC Morningside program) on
what killed the most flies in a barnyard--apparently the Muscovy won going away.

Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery, and change;
mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)