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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 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"
The mallard (/ ˈ m æ l ɑːr d, ˈ m æ l ər d /) or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand , Australia , Peru , Brazil , Uruguay , Argentina , Chile , Colombia , the Falkland Islands , and South Africa .
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 ...
Common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in the breeding season on Texel, the Netherlands. The common eider (pronounced / ˈ aɪ. d ər /) (Somateria mollissima), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large (50–71 cm (20–28 in) in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia.
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In the English language, many animals have different names depending on whether they are male, female, young, domesticated, or in groups. The best-known source of many English words used for collective groupings of animals is The Book of Saint Albans , an essay on hunting published in 1486 and attributed to Juliana Berners . [ 1 ]