While the Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is only known to most Europeans as an invasive species, it once had divine significance in its namesake homeland. Although its original distribution area extended across almost the entire African continent, it was particularly worshipped in ancient Egypt, especially around Thebes. There it was considered a deity, Gengen Wer, "the great cackler," whose loud cackle filled the primordial darkness and who laid the world egg in a mulberry tree in Heliopolis, from which light and the world then emerged. This deity was one of the various manifestations associated with the complex Egyptian pantheon, which included the fertility aspects of gods like Amun. People assumed that creation was a continuous cycle and that every human being hatched from an underworld goose egg.

✨ Let them fly away and enjoy ✨

Carrion crow on a power line.

The crow stands for faith, creativity and intelligence. Breeding pairs usually stay together for life.

Carrion crows reach the highest level of object permanence. Object permanence, or person permanence, is the cognitive ability to know that an object or person continues to exist even when it is outside the field of perception.

Corvids are also capable of empathy: they comfort and ask for consolation.

I like crows.
And trust is a power line.

Young and unmated carrion crows live in swarms. Once they have found a breeding partner, they establish territories which they defend against conspecifics.

European collared dove,
Streptopelia decaocto
(03/2021 in Berlaar, Belgium)

The original distribution of this pigeon species reached from Turkey to Japan. It has been spreading very quickly in Europe since the 1930s. The European collared dove appeared in Germany in 1945, in Belgium in 1950 and in Great Britain in 1953. In 1974, fewer than 50 doves escaped captivity in the Bahamas. They spread to Florida and now they are found in almost every state in the U.S. as well as in Mexico.

European collared doves are not migratory, but strongly dispersive. They breed close to human habitation. Almost every nest is within 1 km of inhabited buildings. They avoid forest areas, but need trees to breed (preferably conifers).

African Penguin
(Spheniscus demersus)
2004 @dallaszoo 🏙️

The only penguin species of Africa. 🌍

It's expected to be extinct in the wild in a few years.⚰️

I wish we could just put a band-aid on everything... 🩹

Check @sanccob 🌠

🌴🦩🦩🌄

Western jackdaws (Coloeus monedula spermologus)

Jackdaws are very talkative birds and have - probably due to their high level of sociality - a very broad repertoire of sounds. Short, monosyllabic and metallic-clicking calls that sound higher than the vocalizations of larger ravens or crows are characteristic. The jackdaw has many situation-specific calls, most of which are choppy and high-pitched. But they also let out drawn-out, croaking vocalizations.

Although jackdaws can be found throughout the whole year, most populations migrate from the breeding areas in winter. The number of migratory birds depends on the climatic conditions. Around 70% of Polish jackdaws, but only 23% of Belgian jackdaws, leave the breeding areas in winter.

🔎🐧💡 At Centro de Interpretación, Paracas, Peru:
In the coastal desert around Paracas, numerous fossils were found. Including various penguin species, such as the Inkayacu pictured here. It lived around 36 million years ago. The 2008 discovered skeleton is the first one with fossilized feathers attached to it. The feathers are so well preserved that it's even possible to draw conclusions about the coloring. They had similar feathers as modern penguins, but more gray or brownish.


The other prehistoric bird in the picture is a pseudotooth bird (pelagornithid). These birds reached a wing span of up to 6 meters and were thus about twice as large as the Andean condor. They were probably related to pelicans or storks and lived all around the world. The fossils found around Paracas are attributed to the same era as the Inkayacu.

💕🐧🐧🐧💕 African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) are the only penguin species of Africa. Their wild population has decreased by 90 percent since 1956. At this rate of decline, the African Penguin is expected to be extinct in the wild by 2026. You can help the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (@sanccob , sanccob.co.za) with a donation.