On my run earlier today I came across these birds close to water on our local golf club in the south east. (UK). They were the size of geese and had blue tail feathers underneath, a bit like those in peacocks but much shorter. They had distinctive dark circles around the eyes. I have never seen them before only the usual much smaller water birds like mallards and cootes. Any ideas? Hubby put a picture of them into Google and Egyptian geese came up but they seem to have red circles around the eyes.
Does anyone know what these birds are? - Bridge to 10K
Does anyone know what these birds are?
![Cassie_7 profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/44cd78d1-dc5f-4c71-aac1-dfb41db05ed4_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
![](https://images.hu-production.be/post/post_5d4f31ea-8efb-448a-8f58-d4bcd6c98d5f.jpg)
![Cassie_7 profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/44cd78d1-dc5f-4c71-aac1-dfb41db05ed4_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
![MissUnderstanding profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/679bf2fe-6dcc-4c35-ba86-e6d542ab3167_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
No idea but they’re handsome little flyers! Lovely pic!
![Cmoi profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/c7be61f953ed576d94eb821c13556f6b_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
As FriendofRondo says, Egyptian geese. I had no clue so googled! In this photo there appear to be red rings round eyes: bto.org/understanding-birds...
![Folkylass profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/5e5b9f4b-7cd0-4747-9e28-770282214b98_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
Hi Cassie_7 yes they are Egyptian Geese and like Cmoi I too googled them 😂
![Mumpark profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/28fbd57ef68256b62aa26d7c7634c12e_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
Yes they are Egyptian geese we have had them in our local park for a few years and they are always the first ones to have babies they are really protective of their offspring and shout loudly if you go near them
![Sandraj39 profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/5b663862a0fefe9c469705583230161d_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
Yes, definitely Egyptian geese - we have them on a pond nearby in Surrey. Beautiful!🙂
![Hedgehogs123 profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/5cd6cd3b-837e-4d21-953c-26dfd395a6ec_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
Wow how weird, I saw two exactly like them when I was running the other day. I tried to take a photo but my phone didnt really zoom in enough. I had to stop and watch them as they were so different to all the other geese we normally have near us. Absolutely stunning birds. They also made a strange noise which I havene't before. How strange that you had them near you too. Im in Lincolnshire. I thought the rings around their eyes were black and from a distance I thought they had the colouring of pheasants but they were definately the same type as the ones in your photo.