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The ducks, geese, and swans are small- to large-sized birds with a broad and elongated general body plan. [2] Diving species vary from this in being rounder. Extant species range in size from the cotton pygmy goose , at as little as 26.5 cm (10.5 in) and 164 g (5.8 oz), to the trumpeter swan , at as much as 183 cm (6 ft) and 17.2 kg (38 lb).
The avian family Anatidae, commonly called waterfowl, comprise the ducks, geese, and swans. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) recognizes these 174 Anatidae species distributed among 53 genera, 32 of which have only one species. Eight species on the list are extinct; they are marked (E). [1]
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. Most modern species in the ...
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'.
The Anserinae are a subfamily in the waterfowl family Anatidae.It includes the swans and the true geese.Under alternative systematical concepts (see e.g., Terres & NAS, 1991), it is split into two subfamilies, the Anserinae contain the geese and the ducks, while the Cygninae contain the swans.
The word "goose" is a direct descendant of Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂éns.In Germanic languages, the root gave Old English gōs with the plural gēs and gandra (becoming Modern English goose, geese, gander, respectively), West Frisian goes, gies and guoske, Dutch: gans, ganzen, ganzerik, New High German Gans, Gänse, and Ganter, and Old Norse gās and gæslingr, whence English gosling.
The waterfowl that spend their winter at the Honker Hilton are largely domesticated geese and ducks who escaped from farms and ranches around the area, ultimately finding their way to Gibson Pond.
The musk ducks , sometimes included in this group, are noted for their bizarre habitus and pronounced sexual dimorphism; they are of uncertain position and decidedly aberrant. Their anatomy is more similar to Oxyura than to the two less derived genera, but still unique in many respects.