Subject: WFWD
Date: Mar 18 20:58:00 1999
From: Joseph L. Seals - 40571 at www1.utech.net


avocet wrote:

"There are three white-faced whistling ducks at Juanita Bay
Park "those look like whistling ducks" in spite of
the fact that I've never seen one

Description (I found a picture in the Costa Rica guide when I got home,
but it doesn't really do them justice):

Bright white face with dark eye
Back of head black
Deep cinnamon-colored neck (front and back)
Dark bill with a ring on the tip
Black butt, belly, and chest, rising to a point just below the neck
Barred grey along the sides
Light brown feathers along the upper back and scapulars
Black primaries and underwings"

Teresa:

I have out my "Birds of Costa Rica" and the description above sure
sounds like the bird pictured on Plate 8. I wasn't clear from your post,
though, whether the description above is what you actually saw or what
the picture in the book looks like.

I've been with friends more than once who've seen a "whistling duck" of
some kind at public ponds and parks. The bird was actually an Egyptian
Goose. With a couple of exceptions, it looks very much like the
description above. The Egyptian Goose is not an uncommon domesticated
animal here in the U.S. and has been known to be found among the Chinese
Geese and yuck ducks of public waters.

Not to say that what you saw wasn't a White-faced Whistling Duck.

Joe
garden at utech.net