EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

A Gaggle

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Family Anatidae
Oregon, USA

Explanation:  Behold, a mid-February gaggle!  We are next to a pond outside the metro area of Portland, Oregon.  Here are resident Canada Geese, that may mix with migratory individuals, as both residents and migrants occur in the region.  

But this is quite the gaggle!  As a term of venery, gaggle is commonly used to refer to a flock of geese when on the ground (else, a flying flock is a skein).  

But ... gaggle?  The etymology is interesting!

According to the etymology dictionary etymonline, the term gaggle dates to the late 15th century, referring to both geese and women (ahem, both referring to "chattering company").  The term seems to have an onomatopoeic origin, being a word that imitates the sound of its subject, as gaggle seems similar to the Dutch gagelen "to chatter," and the Middle English gaggle "to cackle."  

So here we have, indeed, a gaggle of chatterers, or geese by any other name!