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Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of waterfowl which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the family Anatidae; they do not represent a monophyletic group (the group of all descendants of a single common ancestral species) but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water. Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules, and coots. ==Etymology== The word ''duck'' comes from Old English *''dūce'' "diver", a derivative of the verb *''dūcan'' "to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive", because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutch ''duiken'' and German ''tauchen'' "to dive". This word replaced Old English ''ened/ænid'' "duck", possibly to avoid confusion with other Old English words, like ''ende'' "end" with similar forms. Other Germanic languages still have similar words for "duck", for example, Dutch ''eend'' "duck" and German ''Ente'' "duck". The word ''ened/ænid'' was inherited from Proto-Indo-European; compare: Latin ''anas'' "duck", Lithuanian ''ántis'' "duck", Ancient Greek ''nēssa''/''nētta'' (νῆσσα, νῆττα) "duck", and Sanskrit ''ātí'' "water bird", among others. A duckling is a young duck in downy plumage or baby duck; but in the food trade young adult ducks ready for roasting are sometimes labelled "duckling". A male duck is called a drake and the female duck is called a duck, or in ornithology a hen. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「duck」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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