DIJK K VAN & F MAJOOR (2011) Natal dispersal of Egyptian Geese Alopochen aegypticus from The Netherlands to Germany and vice versa. LIMOSA 84 (2): 82-84.

Virtually nothing is known about natal dispersal distances of the introduced Egyptian Goose in Europe. In this paper we document two records of long-distance natal dispersal obtained in 2010. The first record concerns a male born in Arnhem, The Netherlands (51°59'N, 05°54'E), in March 2009, that bred successfully in Essen-Borbeck, Germany (51°28'N, 06°56'E), 92 km to the south-east, in 2010 (Fig. 1) and in 2011. The second record is a male born in Jever, Germany (53°35'N, 07°54'E), in the spring of 2011. The bird was paired with a female that was recorded breeding between 17 June and 12 July 2010 in Groningen, The Netherlands (53°14'N, 06°34'E), 96 km to the west-southwest (Fig. 2). Both breeding records were new settlements, and they fit with a theoretical model proposed by Lensink (1998) that indicated that new settlements can occur at distances of up to 100-200 km. Other ring-recoveries emphasize that movements of 50-150 km are not uncommon for birds of the continental population, as opposed to British birds. All in all, the data suggest that the continental breeding birds currently form a free-mixing population.

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