Geese are waterfowl belonging to the tribe Anserini of the family Anatidae. This tribe comprises the genera Anser (the grey geese), Branta (the black geese) and Chen (the white geese). A number of other birds, mostly related to the shelducks, have “goose” as part of their names. More distantly related members of the Anatidae family are swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller. The word “goose” is a direct descendent of Proto-Indo-European root, *ghans-. In Germanic languages, the root gave Old English gōs with the plural gēs and gandres (becoming Modern English goose, […]

Plovers (/ˈplʌvər/ or /ˈploʊvər/) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called “plover” or “dotterel”. The closely related lapwing subfamily, Vanellinae, comprises another 20-odd species. Plovers are found throughout the world, with the exception of the Sahara and the polar regions, and are characterized by relatively short bills. They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders like snipes do. They feed mainly on insects, worms or other invertebrates, depending on habitat, which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than […]

Mergus is the genus of the typical mergansers, fish-eating ducks in the seaduck subfamily (Merginae). The hooded merganser, often termed Mergus cucullatus, is not of this genus but closely related. The other “aberrant” merganser, the smew (Mergellus albellus), is phylogenetically closer to goldeneyes (Bucephala). Although they are seaducks, most of the mergansers prefer riverine habitats, with only the red-breasted merganser being common at sea. These large fish-eaters typically have black-and-white, brown and/or green hues in their plumage, and most have somewhat shaggy crests. All have serrated edges to their long and thin bills that help them grip their prey. Along […]