Knowra Anseriformes Anseriformes Anseriformes is an order of waterbirds that includes ducks, geese, swans, and screamers. Most species have broad bills and webbed feet adapted to life in or near water.
Anatidae : The bird family that includes ducks, geese, and swans. This family contains most living Anseriformes and accounts for their familiar diversity.
Filter feeding : A feeding method that separates small food particles from water or other fluids. Many ducks use bill lamellae to strain seeds and invertebrates from water.
Vegavis : An extinct bird from Late Cretaceous Antarctica, known from fossils dated to about 66 million years ago. Its fossils have been interpreted as evidence that waterfowl relatives lived before the end-Cretaceous extinction.
Domestic duck : A domesticated waterfowl raised chiefly for meat, eggs, or down, derived mainly from the mallard. Domestic ducks are a major agricultural use of Anseriformes.
Mallard : A widespread dabbling duck native to much of the Northern Hemisphere and ancestor of most domestic ducks. The mallard exemplifies the adaptable ducks that dominate many freshwater habitats.
Anhimidae : The South American bird family comprising the three species of screamers. Screamers form one of the order’s two living families outside Anatidae.
Dabbling duck : A duck that feeds mainly at the water’s surface or in shallow water, often by tipping forward. Dabbling illustrates one common way anatids forage without diving.
Presbyornithidae : An extinct family of long-legged birds often interpreted as early relatives of modern waterfowl. Presbyornithids help illuminate the early diversification of Anseriformes and their relatives.
Domestic goose : A domesticated goose kept for meat, eggs, feathers, or grazing management. Domestic geese show how people have bred waterfowl for food and other purposes.
Mute swan : A large Eurasian swan with a black knob at the base of its orange bill. Its size and familiar appearance make it a recognizable example of the swan lineage.
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