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| Geese | ||||||||||||
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 A Canada Goose | ||||||||||||
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Anser Branta Chen Cereopsis | ||||||||||||
| † see also: Swan, Duck Anatidae |
Goose is the general English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes the swans, which are mostly larger than geese, and the ducks, which are smaller.
This article deals with the true geese in the subfamily Anserinae. A number of other waterbirds, mainly related to the shelducks, have "goose" as part of their name.
True geese are medium to large birds, always (with the exception of the Néné) associated to a greater or lesser extent with water. Most species in Europe, Asia and North America are strongly migratory as wild birds, breeding in the far north and wintering much further south. However, escapes and introductions have led to resident feral populations of several species.
Geese have been domesticated for centuries. In the West, farmyard geese are descended from the Greylag, but in Asia the Swan Goose has been farmed for at least as long.
All geese eat an exclusively vegetarian diet, and some can become pests when flocks feed on arable crops.
The following are the true goose species.
Genus Anser, Grey Geese
The odd Magpie Goose is in a family of its own, the Anseranatidae.
Goose in its origins is one of the oldest words of the Indo-European languages, the modern names deriving from the proto-Indo-European root, ghans, hence Sanskrit hamsa (feminine hamsii), Latin anser, Greek khén etc.
In the Germanic languages, the root word led to Old English gos with the plural gés, German Gans and Old Norse gas. Other modern derivatives are Russian gus and Old Irish géiss.
In non-technical use, the male goose is called a "gander" (Anglo-Saxon gandra) and the female is the "goose".
There is the goose that laid the golden eggs, warning about the perils of being too greedy. And there is also the poem Goosy Goosy Gander
Etymology
Geese in fiction
Goose can have some other meanings in slang.