Posted April 8, 2019
Geese and
swans were observed flying together in V-formation over Vík í Mýrdal in South
Iceland on Thursday, RÚV reports. While it’s unusual to see two different
species flocking together, according to a local ornithologist it is not unheard
of.
Birna
Viðarsdóttir posted the picture to a Facebook group dedicated to Icelandic bird
life and it quickly garnered a great deal of attention, as well as a fair
amount of skepticism – particularly since the photo was taken on April 1, April
Fools’ Day. “A number of people have asked whether it’s been photoshopped,” she
told RÚV, “but it wasn’t.”
Ornithologist
Arnór Þórir Sigfússon says that it’s uncommon to see different kinds of birds
flying together in V-formation, but it has been known to happen. Although swans
and geese both migrate to Iceland from Great Britain around this time of year,
Arnór Þór thinks it’s unlikely that this particular group of birds did so
together the whole way, mostly because geese and swans fly at different speeds.
He said he thought it more likely that the swans in Birna’s picture had joined
a group of geese, rather than vice versa.
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