Is Gladstone Gander a duck or a goose?

[flintheartglomgold]

Hello all!

I want to ask you if you think Gladstone Gander is a goose or a duck? 

He is one of my favourite characters. I personally thinks he looks more like a goose than a duck as the term gander means a male goose, and his beak looks more pointy, thinner and longer than Donald's, and in some stories, he is taller than Donald and with a longer neck. 

Looking forward to your opinions. 

Cheers

[sirredknee]

Well, his name is Gander, but he's been called a "lucky duck" quite often in the old American comics. So, to answer your question: I don't know.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

He's actually both. He's a hybrid. His mother Daphne was mostly a duck (though her great-grandfather Cornelius was a coot), whereas his father Goosetave was a goose.

[Ramapith]

Apparently this kind of hybrid exists in real life!

Today's Egyptian geese are less closely related to other geese, and more to a prehistoric common ancestor of both geese and ducks. As a result, today's ducks can produce offspring with Egyptian geese, though it's uncommon and they don't naturally live near each other (so need to be artificially brought together)...

Purportedly, standard ducks and geese can also produce offspring, though it's so incredibly unusual that only a couple have been recorded since the 1940s. (Hmm—maybe this case was Gladstone.)

[sirtao]

He IS lucky enough to be born from such an unlikely combo

[Palmer]

"Geese only have a 3 color wheel chart. Their feathers are gray, black, white, or spotted gray, black or white. Geese often star on mythological and bedtime stories compared to ducks that often star on televisions." www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-ducks-and-geese/

[There are some colorful ducks, but yellow is rare for their feathers (after they outgrow their duckling down).]

Is Gladstone's sometimes yellow pate natural?
Or does he have a "Blondes Have More Fun" bottle of hair/feather color?

[flintheartglomgold]

Mar 7, 2017 20:22:02 GMT sirredknee said:

Well, his name is Gander, but he's been called a "lucky duck" quite often in the old American comics. So, to answer your question: I don't know.

Actually, in many Carl Barks comics, Gladstone calls himself "The Lucky Gander". I contacted once Don Rosa via e mail about Gladstone, and he told me he considers him a goose as the term Gander means male goose. 

For me, Gladstone looks more like a goose than a duck. I say this because his beak is thinner, pointier and longer than Donald's or Scrooge's, and geese tend to have beaks of that particular shape. 

Does Gladstone looks more goose or duck to you?

[flintheartglomgold]

Does Gladstone look more goose or duck to you, guys?

[RobbK1]

Gladstone looks more like a duck. Geese have long necks and smaller heads in relation to their large bodies.

[Matilda]

Like Rosa, I have assumed Gladstone to be a goose, due to his name. I agree with flintheartglomgold that his beak is more goose-like.

It's true that Gus Goose is more goose-like in the ways that RobbK1 cites: longer neck, relatively smaller head. Though Donald himself had a pretty long neck in the 1930's and 40's! And Gus isn't always drawn with a noticeably long neck. But definitely a smaller head in proportion to a larger body.

If we want to be in-universe-"realistic", I'd go with Scrooge MacDuck's explanation that Gladstone is a duck/goose hybrid, with the name being due to the custom of the last name coming from the father.

[flintheartglomgold]

Apr 4, 2017 2:47:08 GMT RobbK1 said:

Gladstone looks more like a duck. Geese have long necks and smaller heads in relation to their large bodies.

Gladstone looks more goose to me. His beak is longer, pointier and thinner than Donald's, and geese tend to have that kind of beaks, not ducks. Also, in the early comics, Gladstone was drawn taller with longer legs and neck than Donald's, and geese tend to have longer legs than ducks.  

Here is an example comic book:



Here in DuckTales series, Gladstone is taller than Scrooge with different beak and a smaller head:

[flintheartglomgold]

Apr 4, 2017 14:24:10 GMT Matilda said:

Like Rosa, I have assumed Gladstone to be a goose, due to his name. I agree with flintheartglomgold that his beak is more goose-like.

It's true that Gus Goose is more goose-like in the ways that RobbK1 cites: longer neck, relatively smaller head. Though Donald himself had a pretty long neck in the 1930's and 40's! And Gus isn't always drawn with a noticeably long neck. But definitely a smaller head in proportion to a larger body.

If we want to be in-universe-"realistic", I'd go with Scrooge MacDuck's explanation that Gladstone is a duck/goose hybrid, with the name being due to the custom of the last name coming from the father.

Perhaps, although even if he was a mix, Gladstone looks more closer to a goose than it is to a duck. 

Cheers

[drakeborough]

To be fair, Barks' Gladstone lost most of his goose features over the years and became more similar to Donald. Here is an image from his first story:

And here is an image from a late Barks story ("The Billion Dollar Safari"):

[flintheartglomgold]

Apr 5, 2017 6:42:13 GMT drakeborough said:

To be fair, Barks' Gladstone lost most of his goose features over the years and became more similar to Donald. Here is an image from his first story:

And here is an image from a late Barks story ("The Billion Dollar Safari"):

In the later stories, only Gladstone beak and eye shape look goose as his beak is still pointed and his eye shape smaller unlike Donald's, Daisy's or .

Don Rosa's Gladstone, however, did maintain his goose features as his beak shape and somewhat longer neck clearly looks goose. 

[Minotaur]

The eye shape does not indicate his species. Many ducks share the same characteristic.