Wildfowl

Wildfowl (also Waterfowl and Waterbird) is the collective term for 147 species of duck, goose and swan (Anseriformes), kept on wetland, not for hunting and consumption by humans, but for ornamental purposes.

There are a number of subdivisions, e.g. ducks can be subdivided into perching ducks (e.g. teal) and diving ducks (e.g. pochard).

Fowl reared for hunting is usually referred to as waterfowl. Fowl that are not commonly hunted are commonly referred to as waterbirds. That term also includes wading birds, such as stork, whereas the term waterfowl is usually restricted to swimming birds.

In practice, these terms distinguish human activity, not species of birds: a variety raised as ornamental in one place may be hunted in another.

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See also: Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Wildfowl Trust of America[?], British Waterfowl Association[?]

Places to see wildfowl in the United Kingdom

• Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum[?], East Sussex
• Claythorpe Watermill and Wildfowl Gardens[?]
• Lackford Wildfowl Reserve[?], Suffolk Wildlife Trust[?]
• WWT Arundel, West Sussex
• WWT Caerlaverock, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
• WWT Castle Espie, Northern Ireland
• WWT London Wetlands Centre
• WWT Martin Mere, Lancashire
• WWT National Wetlands Centre, Wales
• WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
• WWT Washington, Tyne and Wear
• WWT Welney, Cambridgeshire

Places to see wildfowl in the United States

• Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum[?], Virginia Beach[?], Virginia
• Gateway National Seashore[?], New York City