Teresa:

Please ask the WFWD's to stay until April 17-25, which is when I will be
visiting your neck of the woods.

Joe
garden at utech.net

Subject: Re: White-faced whistling-ducks
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 11:29:12 -0800
From: "avocet" <avocet at halcyon.com>
To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>


What I described below is what I saw and only confirmed using my Costa
Rica and Europe guides. It didn't look anything like an Egyptian goose,
which has light brown or white underneath, and both white and green on
its wings.
I observed the birds very carefully for over a half-hour, noting down
all the details I described, and am quite sure of the identification.
The facial pattern, wings and underbelly colors, etc., are pretty
diagnostic, according to Birds of Britain and Europe "unmistakeable".
the picture on p 376 of the British guide is actually closer to what
they looked like than the Costa Rica guide, and when I first saw them,
they were standing up like a whistling-duck, which is what made me think
of that. By the time I had got home, I was sure I had never seen these
birds either in N.America or Europe, and had pretty much dismissed the
whistling-duck thought. I was pretty surprised to have my initial
impression confirmed.