Goose facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Goose |
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Anserinae
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Anserini
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Goose (plural geese) is the general English name for a large number of long-necked birds, belonging to the family Anatidae.
This family also includes the swans, which are mostly larger than geese, and the ducks, which are smaller and have short necks.
Both as chicks and as adults, geese show collective animal behaviour. Geese migrate in groups in the spring and fall, flying together in a V-shape.
A male goose is called a "gander" and a baby goose is called a "gosling". A group of geese is called a "gaggle".
Contents
True geese and their relatives
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The three living genera of true geese are: Anser, grey geese, including the greylag goose, and domestic geese; Chen, white geese (often included in Anser); and Branta, black geese, such as the Canada goose.
Two genera of "geese" are only tentatively placed in the Anserinae; they may belong to the shelducks or form a subfamily on their own: Cereopsis, the Cape Barren goose, and Cnemiornis, the prehistoric New Zealand goose. Either these or, 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.
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.
Other birds called "geese"
Some mainly Southern Hemisphere birds are called "geese", most of which belong to the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. These are:
- Orinoco goose, Neochen jubata
- Egyptian goose, Alopochen aegyptiaca
- The South American sheldgeese, genus Chloephaga
- The prehistoric Malagasy sheldgoose, Centrornis majori
The spur-winged goose, Plectropterus gambensis, is most closely related to the shelducks, but distinct enough to warrant its own subfamily, the Plectropterinae.
The blue-winged goose, Cyanochen cyanopterus, and the Cape Barren goose, Cereopsis novaehollandiae, have disputed affinities. They belong to separate ancient lineages that may ally either to the Tadorninae, Anserinae, or closer to the dabbling ducks (Anatinae).
The three species of small waterfowl in the genus Nettapus are named "pygmy geese". They seem to represent another ancient lineage, with possible affinities to the Cape Barren goose or the spur-winged goose.
A genus of prehistorically extinct seaducks, Chendytes, is sometimes called "diving-geese" due to their large size.
The unusual magpie goose is in a family of its own, the Anseranatidae.
The northern gannet, a seabird, is also known as the "Solan goose", although it is a bird unrelated to the true geese, or any other Anseriformes for that matter.
In popular culture
Well-known sayings about geese include:
To "have a gander" is to examine something in detail.
"What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" means that what is an appropriate treatment for one person is equally appropriate for someone else.
Saying that someone's "goose is cooked" means that they have suffered, or are about to suffer, a terrible setback or misfortune.
The common phrase "silly goose" which is used when referring to someone who is acting particularly silly.
"Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs," derived from an old fable, is a saying referring to any greed-motivated, unprofitable action that destroys or otherwise renders a favourable situation useless.
"A wild goose chase" is a useless, futile waste of time and effort.
There is a legendary old woman called Mother Goose who wrote nursery rhymes for children.
The Goose-Step is a political cartoon by British cartoonist E. H. Shepard, drawn in 1936, the year which Nazi Germany remilitarized the Rhineland. Below the drawing of the goose, there is a short poem, which parodies the nursery rhyme Goosey Goosey Gander.
Images for kids
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A greylag goose (Anser anser).
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Snow geese (Anser caerulescens) in Quebec, Canada
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Barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) in Naantali, Finland
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Goose breastbone, the colour of the bones after cooking was used to predict how cold winter would be in Lincolnshire folkloric traditions (North Lincolnshire Museum)
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See also
In Spanish: Ganso para niños
