Creature Feature: Sebastopol Goose.

Hey, come to think of it, we've never looked at domestic geese on this blog. This is my fault entirely; there simply hasn't been a goose breed that has gotten my attention. Just looking at domestic geese for one little pic, however, led me to quite a strange goose indeed:

This is a Sebastopol/Danubian goose (Anser anser domesticus).  The breed originated in Ireland from the wild Greylag goose. It only became popular in the 19th century in Europe, and is considered a rare breed. They used to be common everywhere around the Black Sea, and came to England by way of a port in Sebastopol (now in the Ukraine) sometime in the late 1800's. The typical coloration is white with blue eyes and orange feet, but others are available.

The most outstanding trait of the Sebastopol goose is, obviously, the feathers. A similar trait has been found in parakeets. The feathers are so curled that the goose cannot fly. They do, however, make lovely feathers for pillows and quills. Nonetheless, the trait is considered bad for the goose, and it is recommended that curly feathers be kept off the goose's chest so as to avoid wing deformities. (Compare: the taboo against breeding Harlequin Dane x Harlequin, so as to avoid deafness in the puppies.)

From Breed Savers.

Other than the feathers, this goose looks...fairly average. It's frequently crossed with another common goose breed, the Embden, which is one of the more typical "farm" geese. Both are typically bred with a white body and orange legs. It also heavily resembles the Roman goose in color and stature. One trait makes these geese stand out from all the rest, but it's a doozy.

Who knew geese could be so interesting? Perhaps there are more bizarre geese out there waiting to be made into good entries. Hmm...a whole theme week of geese? It's very possible, especially since not many aside from goose enthusiasts will ever see the weird ones. Keep watching!

Creature Feature: Black Swan.

Ah, swans. Is there anything more romantic, pure, and graceful than a swan? Sure, it's a lot like a large goose with white feathers and is really aggressive as hell, but swans have been a symbol of love ever since the ancient Greeks.

A black swan was thought to be impossible to find for millennia. All European swans were white; it was considered an avis rara, a rare bird, by the ancient Romans. Since nature had selected swans to be white for whatever reason, there was no way a black one could exist, right?

 

Oh, wait. The laws of nature fall flat on their face in Australia. Not only do black swans exist down under, they are plentiful.

Black swans (Cygnus atrata) are native to New Zealand and Australia.  They have black feathered bodies with some white on the wings. Their beaks and eyes are both bright red. They have a wingspan around 6 feet (2 meters) and have a longer neck than most swans. They are also strictly monogamous; like emus, both parents take turns raising the young.

When the Europeans brought back a few black swans, the reception was less than stellar. Like many black animals, the black swan was deemed a possible familiar and thus messenger of Satan. Gee, I wonder why? Could the red beak have something to do with that, too?

But does it breathe hellfire? HRM.

Most of us know of the black swan from Tchaikovsky's famous ballet, Swan Lake. In Swan Lake, the princess Odette is turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer Rothbart. The spell can only be broken by eternal love. Naturally, it's love at first sight when Prince Siegfried's swan hunt is interrupted by the sudden transformation of Odette. Rothbart thought that the curse would be enough to keep Odette from ever loving, but after dancing in the dark with Odette, he invites her to a royal ball.

Rothbart turns to plan B: He makes his daughter Odile look exactly like Odette. They go to the ball together. The prince thinks nothing of Odile's black clothing and falls in love with her instead of Odette. Odette warns him in swan form, or, depending on the version, Rothbart himself shows Siegfried where the real Odette is. After realizing his mistake (because, hey, a swan pecking at the window is bound to get someone's attention), Siegfried and Odette commit suicide together, saving Odette's harem friends from their own swan curse. (Nice plot hole, Tchaikovsky: why were they all cursed to begin with, again?)

 

If anything plays off of Swan Lake, the black swan usually shows up as well. Since Odette the Swan Queen and Odile are played by the same dancer, Odile is often dubbed the "black swan."This is a step above being Satan's (!truly monogamous) wife, but nonetheless appealing to goths.

 

Australia has its own use for the black swan. It features prominently in several Aboriginal legends, including one explaining the red on its beak as a battle wound. In Western Australia, the black swan is on everything - coat of arms, flag, you name it. They use it as a symbol of Australian individuality. Why not? The black swan is, after all, a European bird that proved distinctly and uniquely Australian.

Tomorrow: Ever wonder what Scolipede is based off of? The answer will do more than stun you.

Creature Feature: Coots.

"Engagingly ugly" describes these birds to a T.

No, this is not about old people. This is about the bird whose name became a slang term for old people.

Eurasian coots (Fulica atra), like ducks, swans, and geese, are water birds. Despite their similar habits, they are unrelated to waterfowl; coots belong to a family of birds called rails (Rallidae), not true waterfowl (Anatidae). They inhabit and are common in Europe and North America, making this the first Creature Feature to ever be on a European animal.

(Had my camera not lost all of its pics, I could use my own images from England for this entry. I thought they were the coolest things ever when I found them in Hyde Park, and took great pains to capture their odd features. They were almost as cool as the swans I got to pet. Unfortunately, my camera flipped me the bird and was being crazy, so I lost over 600 pictures.)

As stated above, the term 'coot' originated from this bird's white, featherless frontal shield. This shield develops after about a year. The chicks, as seen in the clip above, also look like little baby vultures that can somehow swim.

The head is the least strange thing about this bird. Its feet are semi-webbed; instead of having full webs like a duck or swan's, the coot's feet have little flaps that serve the same purpose. This gives them a unique footprint.

This bird's feet were cool enough to photograph. That's saying something.

Even though the coot is a common bird, it was weird enough to deserve an entry of its own. Look around your backyard for your own oddities!