Anatidae Ducks, geese and swans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for duck.

 

The drake is a gorgeous bird in the breeding plumage, with grey sides, purple breast, and glossy-green head, with a blue shine from certain angles. The female is a uniform speckled brown.

In many cities, mallards are kept in parks, where become very confiding, as many people feed them with bread or corn. They often contain genes from domestic ducks and occur in all colour varieties from wild mallard types to pure white.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek platys (‘flat’) and rhynkhos (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a large and heavy duck, black with bluish or greenish wings, males to 84 cm long and weighing up to 4 kg, females smaller, to 76 cm long and weighing up to 1.25 kg. The face has naked, reddish skin and a knob at the base of the bill. The male has a short crest on the nape.

The generic name was applied in 1599 by Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), who thought that the bird came from the Cairo area of Egypt. In Italian, a native of Cairo is called Cairino (male) or Cairene (female). The specific name refers to its musky smell.

The name Muscovy duck has nothing to do with the Grand Principality of Moscow, founded in 1283 (in English often called The Muscovy), although the spelling of the duck’s name, with a capital M, could easily lead to this misconception. The name could be a corruption of the name musk duck, due to its musky smell, or it may be derived from Muisca, the name of a people who, when the conquistadors arrived, lived in what is today Colombia. The duck is native to this region, and it may have been domesticated by the Muisca. The Miskito people of the Miskito Coast in Nicaragua and Honduras also kept it as a domestic animal, and the duck may have been named after this region.

In pre-Columbian religion, the Muscovy duck was regarded as a symbol of innocence, purity, and motherhood, due to their diligent care for their ducklings, and seeing one was said to be a sign of good luck

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek soma (‘body’) and erion (‘wool’), referring to soft down feathers of these birds. The name eider is derived from the Icelandic name of the common eider, æðarfugl, which stems from Old Norse æðr.

 

The nest of this species is built near the seashore, lined with down, which the female plucks from her own breast. This soft down has been harvested by people for hundreds of years, used as filling in pillows, quilts, and jackets.

In Iceland, eider down has been collected since the Middle Ages, and it is done ethically, with farmers creating sanctuaries for incubating eiders and protecting them from predators. They also prepare nests with shelters, replace the down with hay, and collect the rest of the down when the ducklings have left the nest.

In Northumberland, southern Scotland, the eider duck is known as the cuddy duck, named after Saint Cuthbert (c. 634-687), a monk, bishop, and hermit of the early Northumbrian Celtic church. While on the Farne Islands, he instigated special laws to protect the ducks and other seabirds, nesting on these islands.

The specific name is derived from the Latin mollissimus (‘very soft indeed’), like the generic name alluding to its soft down feathers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost all domestic ducks are descended from the mallard, which was first domesticated in Southeast Asia at least 4,000 years ago. In Ancient Egypt, ducks were captured in nets and then bred in captivity, and domestic ducks are frequently depicted in Egyptian wall paintings in graves and elsewhere. At an early stage, mallards were also farmed by the Romans. The Beijing duck (formerly called Peking duck), a distinct breed in China, also descended from the mallard.

In many places, white domestic ducks developed, probably being favoured in preference to darker breeds, as they were easy to spot, in case they should stray. Domestic ducks have also lost the territorial behavior of the mallard, being less aggressive. Despite these differences, domestic ducks are still very closely related to the mallard, and the two produce fertile offspring.

As indicated above, the Muscovy duck was domesticated in pre-Columbian times, the earliest known domestication taking place in the Mochica culture, southern Peru, and in coastal Ecuador, about 50 to 80 A.D. In Bolivia, it is known as a domestic animal from about 600 A.D., and in Central America from about 750 A.D. Following the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s, the Muscovy duck was taken to Europe, and from there it has been introduced almost around the world.

The plumage colour of the domestic Muscovy duck is more variable than that of its wild cousin, and many are pure white.

Feral populations of the Muscovy duck have been established in the United States and southern Canada, as well as in New Zealand, Australia, and various places in Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for goose.

 

In later years, it has expanded in most of Europe, caused by lower hunting pressure, an increased number of fields with winter crops, and that the bird now breeds in city parks where natural enemies are very few. In cities, it often becomes remarkably confiding – sometimes even showing a threatening attitude towards people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek kyknos (‘swan’) and the suffix oides (‘resembling’), referring to the similarity of the bill of this goose with the bill of mute swan (Cygnus olor).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of brandgás (‘burnt goose’), the Old Norse name of the brent goose (Branta bernicla), referring to the mainly black plumage of this species. In English, ‘burnt’ became ‘brent’.

 

In the 1600s, a few birds were released in St. James’s Park in London. Since then, its numbers have exploded, and today the population in the British Isles is more than 150,000 individuals. It was introduced to Sweden in the 1920s, and today the population is estimated to be around 100,000 birds.

It is very bold and has been able to establish populations in urban areas, where it has no natural predators. In many areas, it has been declared a pest because of its noise, droppings, and aggressive behaviour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its diet includes blister beetles of the family Meloidae, which contain a poison, cantharidin, which is stored in its meat. If you eat its flesh, you may easily get poisoned, and 10 mg of cantharidin is enough to kill a human.

In traditional African folklore, this bird is a symbol of strength and resilience due to its large size and the spur on its wing.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek plektron (‘to sting’) and pteron (‘wing’), alluding to the spur on the wing. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘from the Gambia’. It was said that the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many domestic geese in Asia are descended from the swan goose, and like its wild cousin the domesticated form has a large knob at the base of the bill. It was first domesticated in China, maybe as early as 1000 B.C. Often called Chinese goose, it appears in about 20 breeds.

Domestic geese are reared for meat and eggs, and for their excellent down, used in quilts, down jackets, sleeping bags, and other items. They are found almost worldwide, and as the greylag goose and the swan goose are rather closely related, hybrids between the two domestic forms occasionally occur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The painting depicts 3 species: greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons), bean goose (Anser fabalis), and red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis). When he realized that the bean goose and the red-breasted goose were unlikely to have been encountered in Egypt, Tiradritti took a more critical look at the painting, considered by many to be a masterpiece of Egyptian art. Following a thorough examination of the painting, he concluded that several issues pointed to it being a forgery. (Source: archaeology.org/news/2015/04/01/150401-egypt-meidum-geese)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The book is about the boy Nils Holgersson, whose “chief delight was to eat and sleep, and after that he liked best to make mischief.” One of these mischiefs is to hurt the animals on his family farm.

One day, his family goes to church but leave Nils at home, instructing him to memorize chapters from the Bible. While they are away, Nils captures a tomte (a Swedish kind of gnome) in a net. The tomte suggests that if Nils will free him, he will give him a large gold coin. Nils rejects the offer, which makes the tomte angry, and he turns Nils into a very small tomte, who is able to talk with animals. The annoyed animals of the farm are thrilled to see the boy reduced, as they are hungry for revenge.

However, at this moment a flock of wild geese are migrating north over the farm on their way to their breeding grounds in northern Sweden, and a white male goose on the farm, named Morten, wants to join his wild cousins. Nils attempts to salvage his poor family’s property by grabbing Morten around the neck, but he is much too small to hold it back, and is lifted into the sky.

The wild geese now take him on a wonderful journey through various Swedish landscapes, where they experience all kinds of adventures. On the way, Nils learns that if he can prove that he has changed for the better, the tomte will change him back to a person again.

When the geese migrate south in the autumn, with Morten and Nils, they land at the family’s farm. Nils manages to save Morten from being slaughtered, and this good deed causes him to regain his former size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of the classical Greek word for swan, kyknos.

 

The mute swan is native to northern Europe, from southern Norway and southern Finland, southwards to southern France and Romania, and from Ireland eastwards to western Russia and Ukraine, and with patchy breeding occurrence in the Balkans, Turkey, and Central Asia, eastwards to southern Siberia, Mongolia, and northern China. It has also been introduced elsewhere, including North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

As opposed to the other northern European swans, the whooper swan (C. cygnus) and Bewick’s swan (C. columbianus ssp. bewickii), the mute swan is not very vocal, hence the appellation mute.

The specific name is the classical Latin word for swan.

The mute swan (as well as other swans) is described in depth on the page Animals – Birds: Swans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The global population is estimated at over 500,000 individuals.

The black swan is depicted on the state flag and the coat of arms of Western Australia.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘clothed in mourning’, derived from ater (‘black’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How many women did he desire, that lecher!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among the Nyungar people of south-western Australia, it is said that their ancestors were once black swans, which were transformed into people.

A Nyungar tale relates that originally the swan was white, but other birds got envious and attacked it, tearing out its feathers. The crows felt sorry for them and gave them some of their own black feathers to protect them. The swan’s beak turned red from the blood streaming out. The few white feathers in its plumage is a reminder of its former state, signifying resilience.

In another aboriginal tale, a young woman named Marucha and a handsome warrior named Kulum were in love, and they got the approval of their elders to marry. A fierce warrior from the north, named Ninderry, got jealous and abducted Marucha. Kulum pursued them and, using a trick, managed to escape with Marucha.

However, Ninderry eventually caught up with them and threw a nulla (a club) at Kulum, decapitating him. Kulum’s body turned into stone, becoming Mount Kulum, and his head rolled into the sea, where it became Mudjimba Island. For his evil deeds, Ninderry was turned into a stone formation, called Ninderry Crest, by Birral (The Spirit God).

Overwhelmed with sorrow, Marucha fled to the Blackall Ranges, where she wept, her tears flowing down the mountain to form the Maroochy River. To search for the spirit of her lost love, she transformed herself into a black swan, and to this day it is told that black swans fly up and down the river, searching for Kulum’s spirit.