Strange Bird, a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

This very strange-looking bird lives in a manmade lagoon in my residential neighborhood. The best we can figure is that it is a cross between an albino goose and ?? - what? a chicken? a turkey? Saw it swimming one day, and it certainly did not swim like either a duck or a goose but more like a chicken walks -- head bobbing forward and back as it jerked along in the water. The neighbors say that it has been around for several years now. It is quite a loner and doesn’t hang out with the other waterfowl that visit the lagoon. It’s always a special treat to see my unusual bird friend "Penelope" on my walks.

Technical: Sharpened only.

NellyD, marom, FeatherBirdLady has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

NellyD (1874) 2006-09-02 13:51

Hi Jackie,
I' m afraid I can't help you with the name of the bird, but an albinogoosechickenturkey sounds okay by me.
Just kidding, it is a strange-looking bird, never saw one like this before, but it's a beautiful one.
And you caught him very well.
I like this shot.
Thanks for posting.

Greetings, Nel

adores (46979) 2006-09-02 18:20

Hi again Jackie!
I was really curious to see Penelope today!Well, she may not be so elegant as the other one yesterday and she seems to be a little cold (or angry with you), but it's a nice photo of a very unusual bird!It's sharp and I like the colours. Do you get too close to them to take the photos?

marom (467) 2006-09-06 7:55

Hi Jackie
What an unsual piece of nature. I thought that pelicans were weird. This one reminds me about an old joke but it's not a place for such humor. Great picture. Thanks
cheers
Roman

FeatherBirdLady (329) 2006-09-07 14:33

It's a Muscovy Duck, a non-native bird originally from Mexico, Central and South America. This one appears to be a female, but captive breeding has changed a lot of their appearances. Check out Wikipedia, and/or do a Google search on Muscovy Ducks. :)

Nice shot, by the way,
Feather

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