Waterfowl | Anseriformes

Eendachtigen | Anseriformes

Water birds with a broad bill covered in a soft skin full of nerve endings and tipped with a harder nail; along its edges stand rows of horny lamellae which, working with the fleshy, barbed tongue, sieve or shear the food. The three front toes are joined by webbing and the short legs are set well back, which makes walking a waddle; the plumage is dense, with a layer of down beneath it, and is kept waterproof with oil from a large preen gland. Once a year all the flight feathers are shed together, so the birds cannot fly for three to six weeks and spend that time on safe open water. The young hatch in down with their eyes open, leave the nest within a day and find their own food from the start; unlike most bird groups, the male has an intromittent organ.

Families in this order

Ducks, geese and swans | Anatidae62 speciesThe neck is long and supple, and its length decides how the bird reaches its food: grazing on land, sieving at the surface, upending with the tail in the air, or diving to the bottom. The wings are small for the weight carried, so flight is fast and on continuous beats, with no soaring; taking off calls for a run across the water or a spring straight up. The nest is a scrape, a cavity or a heap of plant material, lined with down the female plucks from her own breast and with which she covers the eggs whenever she leaves; the clutch is large and plain in colour, unmarked, and with few exceptions she incubates alone. The male's voice comes from a bony, usually asymmetrical swelling at the base of the windpipe, and many males exchange their conspicuous plumage after breeding for a few weeks of drab eclipse dress.