So, as an apology, have a picture of this guy who i'm SURE is a duck lol
first part is from https://a-z-animals.com/blog/duck-vs-goose/
- ducks are literally, etymologically, named for their tendency to duck into water, so (to me anyway) it's natural to conclude from there that they hunt fish. geese on the other hand i often see picking away at grass, and potentially other small plants (though I haven't witnessed the latter).
- as you know if you've ever taken a close look at mallard ducks, they tend to be sexually dimorphic with a little bit of colorfulness in males, and you've probably heard about the evolutionary arms race that is duck genitals before. there's a lot of intraspecific competition going on in wild ducks. in geese, i havent myself seen a lot of difference between males and females, they tend to have a uniform look to the untrained eye (and maybe to the trained eye, who knows), but the article i've linked says they are considered "totally monogamous" so i doubt it.
- ducks' wider beaks are presumably better for hunting fish (they escape, so width is useful for catching a moving target, im guessing) without being bad at foraging small plants, and geese's thin cone-like beaks are specialized for small plants that don't move a lot.
- geese have curvier, more distinct necks. im not sure why this is, maybe they're more used to having to bend down than ducks, who may find it advantageous to manipulate their entire body instead when ducking and diving for fish.
- idk why geese are bigger than ducks, but it may be because, as the article says, the monogamy of geese is likely related to their increased aggressiveness, as they need to protect their young. (ive read the article further actually and it seems to agree)
- i see geese fly more often than ducks but that might just be because i see more geese. or because geese are more likely to hang out on land and eat plants, as opposed to ducks hunting fish, and swimming is also an effective fleeing strategy in many cases when your concern is large omnivorous hairless primates (who look even bigger because of our habit of standing upright).
another article: https://www.birdzilla.com/learn/goose-vs-duck/
domestic geese breeds are used as guard animals
hello what what does "domestic" mean here does it mean "exotic" like people mean with "domestic peafowl" or is it actually substantial genetic difference and increased dependence on humans
looked this up more and wikipedia says: "There is archaeological evidence for domesticated geese in Egypt more than 4,000 years ago." this sounds to me like they are properly domestic! ALSO it says that two different species were domesticated, anser anser in north africa/west asia and anser cygnoides in east asia
- the point on ducks being sedentary and geese being migratory is interesting and i dont have a lot to add to that im curious about it though. maybe fish are easier to access year round in a single area than plamts
some of this is speculation i just really like birds especially sexually dimorphic ones (which is many of them tbh) and i found this interesting thanks pls offer more knowledge if you have it
and i will also research their separate vocalizations later