Ducks, Geese and Swans
Order: Anseriformes. Family: Anatidae
The family Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These are birds that are modified for an aquatic existence with webbed feet, flattened bills and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to an oily coating. There are 131 species worldwide and 20 species which occur in Zimbabwe.
- Fulvous Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna bicolor
- White-faced Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna viduata
- White-backed Duck Thalassornis leuconotus
- Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus
- South African Shelduck Tadorna cana
- Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis
- Comb Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos
- African Pygmy-goose Nettapus auritus
- African Black Duck Anas sparsa
- Cape Teal Anas capensis
- Yellow-billed Duck Anas undulata
- Northern Pintail Anas acuta (A)
- Red-billed Duck Anas erythrorhyncha
- Hottentot Teal Anas hottentota
- Garganey Anas querquedula (A)
- Cape Shoveler Anas smithii
- Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata (A)
- Southern Pochard Netta erythrophthalma
- Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula
- Maccoa Duck Oxyura maccoa
Read more about this topic: List Of Birds Of Zimbabwe
Famous quotes containing the words geese and/or swans:
“Not a flock of wild geese cackles over our town, but it to some extent unsettles the value of real estate here, and, if I were a broker, I should probably take that disturbance into account.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Clogged and soft and sloppy eyes
Have lost the light that bites or terrifies.
There are no swans and swallows any more.
The people settled for chicken and shut the door.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)