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Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes
Anseriformes

The order Anseriformes contains about 150 living species of birds in three extant families: the Anhimidae , Anseranatidae , and the Anatidae, which includes over 140 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, goose, and swans....
, especially members of the family Anatidae
Anatidae

Anatidae is the biological family that includes the ducks, goose and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica and on most of the world's islands and island groups....
, which includes duck
Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
s, geese
Goose

Goose is the English-language name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
, and swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
s.

They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies. They have historically been an important food source, and continue to be hunted as game, or raised as poultry
Poultry

Poultry is the category of domesticated birds which some people keep for the purpose of collecting their egg , or kill for their meat and/or feathers....
 for meat and eggs.






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Falcated


Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes
Anseriformes

The order Anseriformes contains about 150 living species of birds in three extant families: the Anhimidae , Anseranatidae , and the Anatidae, which includes over 140 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, goose, and swans....
, especially members of the family Anatidae
Anatidae

Anatidae is the biological family that includes the ducks, goose and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica and on most of the world's islands and island groups....
, which includes duck
Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
s, geese
Goose

Goose is the English-language name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
, and swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
s.

They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies. They have historically been an important food source, and continue to be hunted as game, or raised as poultry
Poultry

Poultry is the category of domesticated birds which some people keep for the purpose of collecting their egg , or kill for their meat and/or feathers....
 for meat and eggs. The domestic duck is sometimes kept as a pet.

Some definitions of the term 'waterfowl' include the saltwater shorebirds or waders, gull
Gull

Gulls are Aves in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, and skimmers, and more distantly to the waders....
s, pelican
Pelican

A pelican is a large water bird with a distinctive pouch under the beak, belonging to the bird Family Pelecanidae.Along with the darters, cormorants, gannets, boobys, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds, pelicans make up the order Pelecaniformes....
s, and heron
Heron

The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons.Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and - including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern - are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae....
s, as well as seabird
Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adaptation to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behavior and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding ecological niche have resulted in similar adaptations....
s such as the albatross
Albatross

Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariidae, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes ....
, but generally 'fowl
Fowl

Fowl is a term for birds; fowl belong to one of two order , namely the gamefowl or landfowl and the waterfowl . Studies of anatomical and molecular similarities suggest these two groups were close evolutionary relatives; together, they form the fowl clade which is scientifically known as Galloanserae ....
' refers to birds used by humans.

See also

  • UK
    • Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
      Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

      The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust is a wildfowl and wetland Conservation movement charitable organization in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
  • USA
    • Ducks Unlimited
      Ducks Unlimited

      Ducks Unlimited is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation movement of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people....


External links

  • by conservationist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling.