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Goose
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{{Short description|Common name for a group of waterfowl}} {{Other uses}} {{pp-semi-indef}} {{pp-move|small=yes}} [[File:Anser anser 1 (Piotr Kuczynski).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|A greylag goose (''[[Anser anser]]''), with a [[moorhen|rail]] in the background.]] A '''goose''' ({{plural form}}: '''geese''') is a [[bird]] of any of several [[waterfowl]] [[species]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Anatidae]]. This group comprises the [[genera]] ''[[Anser (bird)|Anser]]'' (grey geese and white geese) and ''[[Branta]]'' (black geese). Some members of the [[Tadorninae]] subfamily (e.g., [[Egyptian goose]], [[Orinoco goose]]) are commonly called geese, but are not considered "true geese" taxonomically.<ref>Ottenburghs, Jente; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Kraus, Robert H.S.; Madsen, Ole; van Hooft, Pim; van Wieren, Sipke E.; Crooijmans, Richard P.M.A.; Ydenburg, Ronald C.; Groenen, Martien A.M.; Prins, Herbert H.T. (2016). "A tree of geese: A phylogenomic perspective on the evolutionary history of True Geese". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution''. '''101''': 303β313. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.021</ref> More distantly related members of the family Anatidae are [[swan]]s, most of which are larger than true geese, and [[duck]]s, which are smaller. The term "goose" may refer to such bird of either sex, but when paired with "'''gander'''", "goose" refers specifically to a female one ("gander" referring to a male). Young birds before fledging are called '''goslings'''.<ref name=Partridge/> The [[List of collective nouns|collective noun]] for a group of geese on the ground is a '''gaggle'''; when in flight, they are called a '''skein''', a '''team''', or a '''wedge'''; when flying close together, they are called a '''plump'''.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020120740/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/collective/g/ |url=http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/collective/g/ |title=AskOxford: G |access-date=19 September 2011 |work=Collective Terms for Groups of Animals |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 October 2008}}</ref>
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