"Barnacle goose The barnacle goose (""Branta leucopsis"") belongs to the genus ""Branta"" of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey ""Anser"" species. Despite its superficial similarity to the brant goose, genetic analysis has shown it is an eastern derivative of the cackling goose lineage. The barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. ""Branta"" is a Latinised form of Old Norse ""Brandgás"", ""burnt (black) goose"" and the specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek ""leukos"" ""white"", and ""opsis"" ""faced"". The barnacle goose and the similar brant goose were previously"
"Brant (goose) The brant, or brent goose (""Branta bernicla""), is a species of goose of the genus ""Branta"". The black brant is a pacific North American subspecies. The Brent System, a major oilfield, was named after the species. The brant is a small goose with a short, stubby bill. It measures long, across the wings and weighs . The under-tail is pure white, and the tail black and very short (the shortest of any goose). The species is divided into three subspecies: Some DNA evidence suggests that these forms are genetically distinct; while a split into three separate species has"
"or ""Branta"". Branta The black geese of the genus Branta are waterfowl belonging to the true geese and swans subfamily Anserinae. They occur in the northern coastal regions of the Palearctic and all over North America, migrating to more southernly coasts in winter, and as resident birds in the Hawaiian Islands. Alone in the Southern Hemisphere, a self-sustaining feral population derived from introduced Canada geese is also found in New Zealand. The scientific name ""Branta"" is a Latinised form of Old Norse ""Brandgás"", ""burnt (black) goose"". The black geese derive their vernacular name for the prominent areas of black coloration"
"Branta The black geese of the genus Branta are waterfowl belonging to the true geese and swans subfamily Anserinae. They occur in the northern coastal regions of the Palearctic and all over North America, migrating to more southernly coasts in winter, and as resident birds in the Hawaiian Islands. Alone in the Southern Hemisphere, a self-sustaining feral population derived from introduced Canada geese is also found in New Zealand. The scientific name ""Branta"" is a Latinised form of Old Norse ""Brandgás"", ""burnt (black) goose"". The black geese derive their vernacular name for the prominent areas of black coloration found in"
"legend persisted until the end of the 18th century. In County Kerry, until relatively recently, Catholics could eat this bird on a Friday because it counted as fish. Brant (goose) The brant, or brent goose (""Branta bernicla""), is a species of goose of the genus ""Branta"". The black brant is a pacific North American subspecies. The Brent System, a major oilfield, was named after the species. The brant is a small goose with a short, stubby bill. It measures long, across the wings and weighs . The under-tail is pure white, and the tail black and very short (the shortest"
"determining the affinities so precisely and that the relationships of the bird would remain doubtful until further specimens were obtained. Branta rhuax Branta rhuax is an extinct goose endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It was initially described into the monotypic genus ""Geochen"" but assigned to ""Branta"" by Storrs L. Olson in 2013 after reexamination of the subfossil material. The bird was described in 1943 by Alexander Wetmore from subfossil remains originally discovered in 1926, in the course of a public works excavation of a water supply tunnel. The bones were found at a depth of 25 m beneath a prehistoric"
"which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey species of the genus ""Anser"". ""Branta"" is a Latinised form of Old Norse ""Brandgás"", ""burnt (black) goose"" and the specific epithet ""canadensis"" is a New Latin word meaning ""from Canada"". According to the ""Oxford English Dictionary"", the first citation for the 'Canada goose' dates back to 1772. The Canada goose is also colloquially referred to as the ""Canadian goose"". The cackling goose was originally considered to be the same species or a subspecies of the Canada goose, but in July 2004, the American Ornithologists' Union's Committee on Classification"
"range disjunction is less pronounced in the Canada and cackling geese of North America, where unlike in there was no W-E barrier (the Alpide belt) barring range shifts in response to the advancing ice. Branta thessaliensis Branta thessaliensis is a prehistoric species of black goose known from fossils found in Greece. It is among the earliest known members of its genus. Described in 2006, it was of similar size to the Canada goose. It is known from a humerus bone, which differs form the living species by a wider distal end of the diaphysis, a dorsal condyle that is more"
"Red-breasted goose The red-breasted goose (""Branta ruficollis"") is a brightly marked species of goose in the genus ""Branta"" from Eurasia. It is sometimes separated in ""Rufibrenta"" but appears close enough to the brant goose (""Branta bernicla"") to make this unnecessary, despite its distinct appearance. It is currently classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. ""Branta"" is a Latinised form of Old Norse ""Brandgás"", ""burnt (black) goose and ""ruficollis"" is from the Latin ""rufus"" ""red"" and ""collis"" ""necked"". All the species of the genus ""Branta"" are distinguished by their dark sooty colour, relieved by white, and as a distinction from the grey"
"Committee on Classification and Nomenclature split the two into two species, making cackling goose into a full species with the scientific name ""Branta hutchinsii"". The British Ornithologists Union followed suit in June 2005. The AOU has divided the many associated subspecies between both animals. To the present species were assigned: The distinctions between the two geese have led to a great deal of confusion and debate among ornithologists. This has been aggravated by the overlap between the small types of Canada goose and larger types of cackling goose. The old ""lesser Canada geese"" were believed to be a partly hybrid"
"Branta thessaliensis Branta thessaliensis is a prehistoric species of black goose known from fossils found in Greece. It is among the earliest known members of its genus. Described in 2006, it was of similar size to the Canada goose. It is known from a humerus bone, which differs form the living species by a wider distal end of the diaphysis, a dorsal condyle that is more rounded in dorsal view and more prominent compared to the ventral condyle in distal view, and a deeper humerotricipital sulcus in distal view. The fossil was found in a Late Miocene (Middle Turolian: European"
"goose (""Cereopsis""), the coscoroba swan (""Coscoroba""), the freckled duck (""Stictonetta"") which once was placed in the Oxyurinae, or the pygmy geese (""Nettapus""), but the exact relationships between these lineages remains unresolved. For example, the African white-backed duck (""Thalassornis"") also shows some similarities to ""Oxyura"", but again, this may be yet another case of convergent evolution. One fossil genus of Oxyurini, ""Tirarinetta"" from the Pliocene of Australia, and some prehistoric members of genera are still extant. Three enigmatic genera of waterfowl, ""Mionetta"" from the Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene of central Europe and ""Dunstanetta"" and ""Manuherikia"" from the Bathans Early/Middle Miocene"
"Goose Geese are waterfowl of the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ""Anser"" (the grey geese) and ""Branta"" (the black geese)."" Chen"", a genus comprising 'white geese', is sometimes used to refer to a group of species that are more commonly placed within ""Anser"". Some other birds, mostly related to the shelducks, have ""goose"" as part of their names. More distantly related members of the family Anatidae are swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller. The word ""goose"" is a direct descendent of Proto-Indo-European root, ""ghans-"". In Germanic languages, the root gave"
"populations may still be declining, especially of the subspecies ""minima"" and ""leucopareia"". Though the taxonomic distinctness of the Komandorski and Kuril Islands populations, which used to winter in Japan, is controversial, it is without doubt that they disappeared around 1929. The genus name ""Branta"" is a Latinised form of Old Norse ""Brandgás"", ""burnt (black) goose"", and the specific epithet ""hutchinsii"" commemorates English surgeon Thomas Hutchins who was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. The cackling goose was originally considered to be the same species or a subspecies of the Canada goose, but in July 2004 the American Ornithologists' Union's (AOU)"
"and Nomenclature split them into two species, making the cackling goose into a full species with the scientific name ""Branta hutchinsii"". The British Ornithologists' Union followed suit in June 2005. The AOU has divided the many subspecies between the two species. The subspecies of the Canada goose were listed as: The distinctions between the two geese have led to confusion and debate among ornithologists. This has been aggravated by the overlap between the small types of Canada goose and larger types of cackling goose. The old ""lesser Canada geese"" were believed to be a partly hybrid population, with the birds"
"Branta rhuax Branta rhuax is an extinct goose endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It was initially described into the monotypic genus ""Geochen"" but assigned to ""Branta"" by Storrs L. Olson in 2013 after reexamination of the subfossil material. The bird was described in 1943 by Alexander Wetmore from subfossil remains originally discovered in 1926, in the course of a public works excavation of a water supply tunnel. The bones were found at a depth of 25 m beneath a prehistoric lava flow, on top of an ash bed, near Kaumaikeohu, above Pahala in the Kau District of the Island of"
"boa (""Boa constrictor constrictor"") ""Tyzzeria chalcides"" - ocellated skink (""Chalcides ocellatus"") ""Tyzzeria chenicusae"" - common goldeneye (""Chenicus coromandelianus"") ""Tyzzeria galli"" - Ceylon jungle fowl (""Gallus lafayettei"") ""Tyzzeria natrix"" - yamakagashi (""Rhabdophis tigrinus"") ""Tyzzeria parvula"" - greater white-fronted goose (""Anser albifrons""), greylag goose (""Anser anser""), snow goose (""Anser caerulescens""), Ross' goose (""Anser rossii""), brent goose (""Branta bernicla""), Canada goose (""Branta canadensis""), tundra swan (""Cygnus columbianus"") ""Tyzzeria pellerdyi"" - northern pintail (""Anas acuta""), American wigeon (""Anas americana""), northern shoveler (""Anas clypeata""), common teal (""Anas crecca""), blue-winged teal (""Anas discors""), mallard (""Anas platyrhynchos""), gadwall (""Anas strepera""), ferruginous duck (""Aythya nyroca"") ""Tyzzeria perniciosa"" -"
"correctly assigned – meaning that the genus ""Anser"" was once much more widespread than today and that it coexisted with ""Branta"" in freshwater habitat which it today does only most rarely – is not clear. Especially in the case of ""B. dickeyi"" and ""B. howardae"", doubts have been expressed about its correct generic assignment. The former """"Branta"" minuscula"" is now placed with the prehistoric American shelducks, ""Anabernicula"". On the other hand, a goose fossil from the Early-Middle Pleistocene of El Salvador is highly similar to ""Anser"" and given its age and biogeography it is likely to belong to that genus"
"considered one species, and were formerly believed to spawn from the goose barnacle. This gave rise to the English name of the barnacle goose and the scientific name of the brant. It is sometimes claimed that the word comes from a Celtic word for ""limpet"", but the sense-history seems to go in the opposite direction. The barnacle myth can be dated back to at least the 12th century. Gerald of Wales claimed to have seen these birds hanging down from pieces of timber, William Turner accepted the theory, and John Gerard claimed to have seen the birds emerging from their"
"It, and similar thrush-like Muscicapidae species, are often called chats. The English name is derived from ""whin"", the common gorse and ""chat"" referring to the nature of its calls. Its scientific name means ""small rock-dweller"", in reference to its habitat. ""Saxicola"" derives from Latin ""saxum"" (""rock"") + ""incola"" (""dwelling""); ""rubetra"" is a Latin term for a small bird. No subspecies are recognised. Very rarely, hybridisation occurs between the whinchat and the Siberian stonechat (""Saxicola maurus""), with a case being reported in Finland in 1997. It has also been reported to hybridise with the European stonechat in western and southern Europe."
"Aleutian cackling goose The Aleutian cackling goose (""Branta hutchinsii leucopareia""), formerly known as the Aleutian Canada goose (""Branta canadensis leucopareia""), is small subspecies of cackling goose averaging 1700 to 2100 grams in weight. It was one of 122 species of animals, birds, and fish first documented for science by the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Corps of Discovery). The Bering cackling goose (""B. h. asiatica"") is the name given to cackling geese on the Komandorski and Kuril Islands. This population was not markedly distinct from the Aleutian one and is usually included with them. By about 1920 or so (last seen"
"otter (""Enhydra lutris""), bearded seal (""Erignathus barbatus""), donkey (""Equus asinus""), cougars (""Felis concolor coryi"", ""Felis concolor stanleyana""), bobcat (""Felis rufus floridanus""), Atlantic white-sided dolphins (""Lagenorhynchus acutus""), guanaco (""Lama guanicoe""), alpaca (""Vicugna pacos""), otter (""Lutra lutra""), wild dog (""Lycaon pictus""), Bartels's spiny rat (""Maxomys bartelsii""), Musschenbroek's spiny rat (""Maxomys musschenbroekii""), prairie vole (""Microtus ochrogaster""), common European weasel (""Mustela nivalis""), mink (""Mustela vison""), muskrat (""Ondatra zibethica""), mountain goats (""Oreamnos americanus""), Grant's gazelle (""Nanger granti""), slow loris (""Nycticebus coucang""), African lions (""Panthera leo""), leopard (""Panthera pardus""), tiger (""Panthera tigris""), baboon (""Papio cynocephalus""), Pacific harbor seal (""Phoca vitulina richardsi"") chamois (""Rupicapra rupicapra""), Polynesian rat"
"Gould stuck with ""S. australis"", ""S. serrator"" became the preferred term over time. ""Australasian gannet"" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). It is also known as Australian gannet, diver (from its plunge-diving), booby, or solan goose, in Australia, and Pacific gannet, tākapu, takapu, tākupu or takupu in New Zealand. The Sulidae, the gannets and boobies, appeared about 30 million years ago. Early Sulidae fossils most resembled the boobies, although they were more aquatic, with the gannets splitting off later, about 16 million years ago. The gannets evolved in the"
"isotherms. The genus contains ten living species, which span nearly the whole range of true goose shapes and sizes. The largest is the greylag goose at . All have legs and feet that are pink, or orange, and bills that are pink, orange, or black. All have white under- and upper-tail coverts, and several have some extent of white on their heads. The neck, body and wings are grey or white, with black or blackish primary—and also often secondary—remiges (pinions). The closely related ""black"" geese in the genus ""Branta"" differ in having black legs, and generally darker body plumage. The"
"fact that some members of the genus have common names of ""heron"" and some of ""egret"" , causes further confusion in differentiating between this genus and ""Ardea"". A fossil species, ""Egretta subfluvia"", is known from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene of Florida. Egretta Egretta is a genus of medium-sized herons, mostly breeding in warmer climates. The genus name comes from the Provençal French for the little egret, ""aigrette"", a diminutive of ""aigron"", ""heron"". Representatives of this genus are found in most of the world, and the little egret, as well as being widespread throughout much of the Old World,"
"be assigned to any genus living today, though most, if not all, may be fairly close to ""Branta"": Anserinae The Anserinae are a subfamily in the waterfowl family Anatidae. It includes the swans and true geese. Under alternative systematical concepts (see e.g., Terres & NAS, 1991), it is split into two subfamilies, the Anserinae contain the geese and the ducks, while the Cygninae contain the swans. Swans True geese Unresolved These two genera are distinct from other geese and often elevated to a subfamily of their own (Cereopsinae), or alternatively into the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae: Some enigmatic subfossils of very"
"Old English ""gōs"" with the plural ""gēs"" and ""gandres"" (becoming Modern English goose, geese, gander, and gosling, respectively), Frisian ""goes"", ""gies"" and ""guoske"", New High German ""Gans"", ""Gänse"", and ""Ganter"", and Old Norse ""gās"". This term also gave , (goose, from Old Irish ""géiss""), , Ancient (""khēn""), , (heron), Sanskrit ""hamsa"" and ""hamsi"", , Avestan ""zāō"", , , (""guska"" / ""gusak""), (""gusyna"" / ""gus""), , and (""ghāz""). The term ""goose"" applies to the female in particular, while ""gander"" applies to the male in particular. Young birds before fledging are called ""goslings"". The collective noun for a group of geese on"
"from ""mergus"" and ""anser"", Latin for ""goose"" In 1843 John James Audubon used the name ""Buff-breasted Merganser"" in addition to ""goosander"" in his book ""The Birds of America"". There are three subspecies, differing in only minor detail: It is long with a wingspan and a weight of ; males average slightly larger than females but with some overlap. Like other species in the genus ""Mergus"", it has a crest of longer head feathers, but these usually lie smoothly rounded behind the head, not normally forming an erect crest. Adult males in breeding plumage are easily distinguished, the body white with"
"crustaceans and molluscs. There are five species, grouped into two subgenera: The presumed fossil ""scoter"" ""Melanitta ceruttii"", which lived in California during the Late Pliocene, is now placed in the genus ""Histrionicus"". Scoter The scoters are stocky seaducks in the genus Melanitta. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills. Females are brown. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ""melas"" ""black"" and ""netta"" ""duck"". They breed in the far north of Europe, Asia, and North America, and winter farther south in temperate zones of those continents. They form large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly"
"Geese are monogamous, living in permanent pairs throughout the year; however, unlike most other permanently monogamous animals, they are territorial only during the short nesting season. Paired geese are more dominant and feed more, two factors that result in more young. Some mainly Southern Hemisphere birds are called ""geese"", most of which belong to the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. These are: Others: Well-known sayings about geese include: Goose Geese are waterfowl of the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ""Anser"" (the grey geese) and ""Branta"" (the black geese)."" Chen"", a genus comprising 'white geese', is sometimes used to refer to"
"Common merganser The common merganser (North American) or goosander (Eurasian) (""Mergus merganser"") is a large duck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, northern and central Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats fish and nests in holes in trees. The first formal description of the common merganser was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ""Systema Naturae"". He introduced the current binomial name ""Mergus merganser"". The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and ""merganser"" is derived"
"more probably, the goose-like Coscoroba swan is the closest living relative of the true geese. Fossils of true geese are hard to assign to genus; all that can be said is that their fossil record, particularly in North America, is dense and comprehensively documents many different species of true geese that have been around since about 10 million years ago in the Miocene. The aptly named ""Anser atavus"" (meaning ""progenitor goose"") from some 12 million years ago had even more plesiomorphies in common with swans. In addition, some goose-like birds are known from subfossil remains found on the Hawaiian Islands."
"Whether this latter anatid was indeed a shelduck is presently undetermined. Similarly, two bones found on Oʻahu indicate the erstwhile present of a gigantic waterfowl on this island. Its relationships relative to this genus and the moa-nalos, enormous goose-like dabbling ducks, are completely undeterminable at present. Several fossil species of ""Branta"" have been described. Since the true geese are hardly distinguishable by anatomical features, the allocation of these to this genus is somewhat uncertain. A number of supposed prehistoric grey geese have been described from North America, partially from the same sites as species assigned to ""Branta"". Whether these are"