Goose - wikipedia Goose This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 11 October 2017. For other uses, see Goose ( disambiguation ). Geese are waterfowl of the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera Anser ( the grey geese ) and Branta ( the black geese ). Chen, a genus comprising ' white geese ', is sometimes used to refer to a group of species that are more commonly placed within Anser. Some other birds, mostly related to the shelducks, have `` goose '' as part of their names. More distantly related members of the family Anatidae are swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller. Contents 1 Etymology 2 True geese and their relatives 3 Other birds called `` geese '' 4 In popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Etymology Canada goose gosling The word `` goose '' is a direct descendent of Proto - Indo - European root, * ghans -. In Germanic languages, the root gave Old English gōs with the plural gēs and gandres ( becoming Modern English goose, geese, gander, and gosling, respectively ), Frisian goes, gies and guoske, New High German Gans, Gänse, and Ganter, and Old Norse gās. This term also gave Lithuanian žąsìs, Irish gé ( goose, from Old Irish géiss ), Latin anser, Greek χήν / khēn, Dutch gans, Albanian gatë ( heron ), Sanskrit hamsa and hamsi, Finnish hanhi, Avestan zāō, Polish gęś, Ukrainian гуска and гусак, Russian гусыня and гусь, Czech husa, and Persian ghāz. The term goose applies to the female in particular, while gander applies to the male in particular. Young birds before fledging are called goslings. The 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. True geese and their relatives A Giant Canada goose, Branta canadensis maxima. Geese are frequent visitors to parks and large gardens with access to water, and as such are prominent examples of urban wildlife. Snow geese in Quebec Chinese geese, the domesticated form of the swan goose The three living genera of true geese are : Anser, grey geese, including the greylag goose, and domestic geese ; Chen, white geese ( often included in Anser ) ; and Branta, black geese, such as the Canada goose. Two genera of `` geese '' are only tentatively placed in the Anserinae ; they may belong to the shelducks or form a subfamily on their own : Cereopsis, the Cape Barren goose, and Cnemiornis, the prehistoric New Zealand goose. Either these or, more probably, the goose - like Coscoroba swan is the closest living relative of the true geese. Fossils of true geese are hard to assign to genus ; all that can be said is that their fossil record, particularly in North America, is dense and comprehensively documents many different species of true geese that have been around since about 10 million years ago in the Miocene. The aptly named Anser atavus ( meaning `` progenitor goose '' ) from some 12 million years ago had even more plesiomorphies in common with swans. In addition, some goose - like birds are known from subfossil remains found on the Hawaiian Islands. Geese are monogamous, living in permanent pairs throughout the year ; however, unlike most other permanently monogamous animals, they are territorial only during the short nesting season. Paired geese are more dominant and feed more, two factors that result in more young. Other birds called `` geese '' Greylag goose at St. James 's Park, London Cape Barren goose Some mainly Southern Hemisphere birds are called `` geese '', most of which belong to the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. These are : Orinoco goose, Neochen jubata Egyptian goose, Alopochen aegyptiaca The South American sheldgeese, genus Chloephaga The prehistoric Malagasy sheldgoose, Centrornis majori The spur - winged goose, Plectropterus gambensis, is most closely related to the shelducks, but distinct enough to warrant its own subfamily, the Plectropterinae. The blue - winged goose, Cyanochen cyanopterus, and the Cape Barren goose, Cereopsis novaehollandiae, have disputed affinities. They belong to separate ancient lineages that may ally either to the Tadorninae, Anserinae, or closer to the dabbling ducks ( Anatinae ). The three species of small waterfowl in the genus Nettapus are named `` pygmy geese ''. They seem to represent another ancient lineage, with possible affinities to the Cape Barren goose or the spur - winged goose. A genus of prehistorically extinct seaducks, Chendytes, is sometimes called `` diving - geese '' due to their large size. The unusual magpie goose is in a family of its own, the Anseranatidae. The northern gannet, a seabird, is also known as the `` Solan goose '', although it is a bird unrelated to the true geese, or any other Anseriformes for that matter. Canada geese in flight In popular culture Well - known sayings about geese include : To `` have a gander '' is to examine something in detail. `` What 's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander '' means that what is an appropriate treatment for one person is equally appropriate for someone else. Saying that someone 's `` goose is cooked '' means that they have suffered, or are about to suffer, a terrible setback or misfortune. `` Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, '' derived from an old fable, is a saying referring to any greed - motivated, unprofitable action that destroys or otherwise renders a favourable situation useless. `` A wild goose chase '' is a useless, futile waste of time and effort. There is a legendary old woman called Mother Goose who wrote nursery rhymes for children. The Goose - Step is a political cartoon by British cartoonist E.H. Shepard, drawn in 1936, the year which Nazi Germany remilitarized the Rhineland. Below the drawing of the goose, there is a short poem, which parodies the nursery rhyme Goosey Goosey Gander. See also Angel wing, a disease common in geese Domestic goose, which includes cooking and folklore Flying geese paradigm List of Anseriformes by population List of goose breeds Roast goose Waterfowl Wildfowl References ^ Jump up to : Partridge, Eric ( 1983 ). Origins : a Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English. New York : Greenwich House. pp. 245 -- 246. ISBN 0 - 517 - 414252. Jump up ^ Crystal, David ( 1998 ). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. ISBN 0 - 521 - 55967 - 7. Jump up ^ `` AskOxford : G ''. Collective Terms for Groups of Animals. Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2011. Jump up ^ Lamprecht, Jürg ( November 1987 ). `` Female reproductive strategies in bar - headed geese ( Anser indicus ) : Why are geese monogamous ? ''. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. Springer. 21 ( 5 ) : 297 -- 305. doi : 10.1007 / BF00299967. Jump up ^ `` New Records and a New Species of Chendytes, an Extinct Genus of Diving Geese on JSTOR '' ( PDF ). www.jstor.org. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 17. Further reading Carboneras, Carles ( 1992 ). `` Family Anatidae ( Ducks, Geese and Swans ) ''. In del Hoyo, Josep ; Elliott, Andrew ; Sargatal, Jordi. Handbook of Birds of the World. Volume 1 : Ostrich to Ducks. Barcelona : Lynx Edicions. pp. 536 -- 629. ISBN 84 - 87334 - 10 - 5. CS1 maint : Uses editors parameter ( link ) Terres, John K. ; National Audubon Society ( 1991 ) ( 1980 ). The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. New York : Wings Books. ISBN 0 - 517 - 03288 - 0. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geese. Wikiquote has quotations related to : Geese Look up goose in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Anatidae media on the Internet Bird Collection Poultry Species Chicken Duck Goose Guineafowl Grey partridge Pheasant Domestic pigeon Common quail Japanese quail Turkey Breeds Chicken breeds Duck breeds Turkey breeds Goose breeds Pigeon breeds Poultry farming Chicken coop Chicken harvester Free range Free - range eggs Pastured poultry Organic egg production Yarding Hatchery Battery cage Furnished cages Forced molting Debeaking Chick culling Chick sexing Hock burns Blinders ( poultry ), aka Chicken eyeglasses Poultry litter Poultry farming in the United States Taxon identifiers Wd : Q82562 Fossilworks : 83422 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goose&oldid=804873618 '' Categories : Extant Tortonian first appearances Geese Birds by common name Hidden categories : Wikipedia pending changes protected pages ( level 1 ) Wikipedia indefinitely move - protected pages CS1 maint : Uses editors parameter Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Armãneashti বাংলা Català Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia עברית Kurdî ລາວ Latina Latviešu മലയാളം Bahasa Melayu Монгол မြန်မာဘာသာ नेपाली Norsk پنجابی Plattdüütsch Polski Română Русский Scots Simple English Suomi Svenska Tagalog ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt Zazaki 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 11 October 2017, at 17 : 08. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what is the name for a group of geese
Answer: a group of geese on the ground is a gaggle