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Falcated Duck at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, Gloucestershire, England

Ducks at Narrabeen Lake, Sydney, Australia

'Waterfowl', also 'waterbirds', are wildfowl which prefer a wetland habitat. These include ducks, geese and coots.
They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies. They have historically been an important food source, and continue to be hunted as game, or raised as poultry for meat and eggs.
The domestic duck is often kept as a pet.
Some definitions of the term 'waterfowl' include the saltwater shorebirds or waders, gulls, pelicans, and herons, as well as seabirds such as the albatross, and even the penguin, but 'fowl,' as defined, refers to birds of domestic use.

Contents

Waterfowl families

See also

References

Waterfowl families

The following are groups of birds traditionally classed as waterfowl; all but the rails are in the Anseriformes order.
the waterfowl produces eggs and then lays them.

★ Anatidae: ducks, geese and swans, approximately 147 species

★ Anseranatidae: the Magpie Goose

★ Rallidae: water-adapted members, principally the coots and moorhens

See also

★ UK

★
★ Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

★ USA

★
★ Ducks Unlimited

References

★ Madge and Burn, ''Wildfowl'' ISBN 0-7470-2201-1

★ Taylor and van Perlo, ''Rails'' SBN 90-74345-20-4