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The word duck comes from Old English dūce 'diver', a derivative of the verb *dūcan 'to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive', because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutch duiken and German tauchen 'to dive'. Pacific black duck displaying the characteristic upending "duck"
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which includes over 170 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans.
The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. [3] DNA studies have shown that it is a sister species with the falcated duck; the two are closely related to the three species of wigeons, and all of them have been assigned to the genus Mareca.
The harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) is a small sea duck. It takes its name from Harlequin (Italian Arlecchino, French Arlequin ), a colourfully dressed character in Commedia dell'arte . The species name comes from the Latin word "histrio", meaning "actor".
The specific epithet is from allē, the Lapp word for the long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis). [12] The species was formerly placed in the genus Plautus , [ 11 ] but in 1973 this name was suppressed by the commission of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] and now the little auk is the only species placed in ...
The genus name is the Latin word for an unknown seabird, perhaps a cormorant. The specific epithet albellus is a Latin diminutive of albus meaning "white". [8] The term smew has been used since the 17th century and is of uncertain origin. It is believed to be related to the Dutch smient ("wigeon") and the German Schmeiente or Schmünte, "wild ...
Aix is a bird genus that contains two species of ducks: the wood duck (Aix sponsa), and the mandarin duck (Aix galericulata). Aix is an Ancient Greek word used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird. [1]