Birding The Met, Ancient Egypt - 3rd Nov

While wandering around the Egyptian section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art a few weeks ago my eye was drawn to the numerous birds depicted. I noticed that some of them were readily identifiable to species, and that in fact the artists had quite a good eye for the birds, and had gone to some trouble to differentiate between species. The images were rendered in a variety of media, some carved into stone or wood, some written on parchment and some as sculpture.

I think this shows an Egyptian Vulture. The hooked bill is fairly long and slender, and there is clearly feathering on the head.

The rounded head and stronger bill of this bird, along with a hunched appearance say Gyps type vulture to me. Current distribution would suggest that European Griffon would be the most likely, though Ruppell's Vulture occurs occasionally, and may have been more regular in the past.

One of the commonest images is this raptor, which I think shows a species of harrier. The long legs with unfeathered tibia and relatively long tail are consistent with a Circus sp...

...then I found this image with some pigment remaining. Assuming the colour hasn't changed (a big assumption admittedly) and that these birds really were a slaty grey colour then I think the harrier ID is almost certain.

But what is this? The posture is very similar to the harriers above, but the face pattern is a falcon, and what's that big red breast-band? From a plumage perspective the closest Falco sp. in the region would be Eleanora's Falcon. This seems to be a bit of a mixture, maybe the artist was being a bit creative.....

...no 'maybe' about this one. Move along, nothing to see here.

These are quite clearly intended to be Red-breasted Goose, and are generally very accurately depicted, though the extent of red on the neck and face is somewhat less than in real life. I was surprised to see this species represented as its closest current winter range is the western shore of the Black Sea. Maybe they used to travel a little further?

White-fronted Goose every day of the week!

Presumably Greylag based on current distribution, though it's possible that Bean Goose could have occurred in Egypt historically.

The illustration that first alerted me to the observational skills of the Egyptian artists was this one, which was located very close to the next image, immediately below. The difference in bill shape between the two carvings is marked, this is clearly a pair of geese, (possibly Egyptian Goose considering their proportions).....

... while this is undoubtedly a duck sp.

The long neck and upright posture suggest the possibility of a Whistling Duck Dendrocygna sp. Current ranges of African members of this genus don't extend beyond southern Sudan however.

The loose tail feathering, long neck and longish bill show this as probably Common Crane...

...but this is definitely Demoiselle Crane. The head shape and small bill is the first clue, but the clincher is the long hanging breast feathers which are diagnostic.

Possibly the best known Egyptian bird is Sacred Ibis, which appears many times...

...the ink images on papyrus are particularly striking

This is a bit of a puzzler. Images like this appear in many places, and all emphasise the deeply forked tail. I can't help but feel they are meant to be Barn Swallow, despite the overlong legs.

Lots of images, many quite small, of upright tailless short-billed birds. Considering the habitat indicated by many of the other species (herons, ducks, geese, cranes...) there's a good chance these represent some form of small crake, or possibly a buttonquail.

Desert Eagle Owl, can't really be anything else.

Egret sp., possibly Great White Egret

A small heron species. Depicted in groups, possibly Cattle Egret?