Goose (plural: geese) is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller.

This article deals with the true geese]] in the subfamily [[Anserinae, tribe Anserini.

A number of other waterbirds, mainly related to the shelducks, have "goose" as part of their name.

Description

Geese have been domesticated for thousands of years. In the West, farmyard geese are descended from the Greylag, but in Asia the Swan Goose has been farmed for at least as long.

All geese eat a vegetarian diet, and can become pests when flocks feed on arable crops or inhabit ponds or grassy areas in urban environments. They also take invertebrates if the opportunity presents itself; domestic geese will try out most novel food items for edibility.

Not all couples are heterosexual, as both females and males will form long-term same-sex couples with greater or lesser frequency depending on species. Of the homosexual couples, a significant proportion are non-breeding despite having an active sexual life.

Etymology

In the Germanic languages, the root word led to Old English gos with the plural gés, German Gans and Old Norse gas. Other modern derivatives are Russian gus and Old Irish géiss; the family name of the cleric Jan Hus is derived from the Czech derivative husa.

The male goose is called a gander (Anglo-Saxon gandra) and the female is the goose (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)); young birds before fledging are known as goslings. A group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle; when flying in formation, it is called a wedge or a skein (see also list of collective nouns for birds).

True geese

The following are the living genera of true geese:

• Anser - Grey Geese, including the domesticated goose and the Swan Goose
• Chen - White Geese (often included in Anser)
• Branta - Black Geese, such as the Canada goose

The following two genera are only tentatively placed in the Anserinae; they may belong to the shelducks or form a subfamily on their own: