Ducks, geese and swans | Anatidae

Eenden, ganzen en zwanen | Patos, gansos y cisnes

The 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.