American Wigeon (us-RGV)
From WikiBird
Contents |
Regional Information
Range, Abundance, and Seasonal Variations
Directions and Maps
General Information
Size
Length: ??cm (18-23in), Wingspan: ??cm (??in)
Field Marks
Blue bill with black nail, white secondary coverts (grayer in females) and green speculum, white axillars, white belly. Male breeding: pinkish flanks and breast back, with black flanks and a brilliant white speculum, obvious in flight or at rest. It has a greyish head with a green eye patch and a whitish crown stripe. Male winter: White crown, green post-ocular stripe, streaked gray lower face and neck, rusty breast and flanks, dark brown back, white patch at rear portion of flanks, black undertail coverts. Female: Blue bill with black tip. Mottled dark brown body plumage with rustier flanks contrasting with paler head and neck. Dusky eye patch. Juvenile: Similar to adult female.
Similar species
Adult in alternate plumage is unmistakable. All plumages distinguished from all other dabbling ducks (except Eurasian Wigeon) by pale gray or white secondary coverts in flight. At rest Wigeon have a distinctive steep forehead and gently sloped rear part of the head, as well as pale blue bills. The rare Eurasian Wigeon is very similar in female, immature and eclipse male plumages and is safely distinguished only in flight by its gray, not white, axillars, and sometimes by the lack of contrast between head and back plumage. The females are light brown, with plumage much like a female Mallard. They can be distinguished from most ducks, apart from European Wigeon on shape. However, that species has a darker head and all grey underwing.
Sounds
This is a noisy species. The male has a clear whistle in three syllables: whoee-whoe-whoe, whereas the female has a low growl qua-ack.
Feeding & Behavior
Feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing.
Habitat & Nesting
It is a bird of open wetlands, such as wet grassland or marshes with some taller vegetation. It nests on the ground, near water and under cover. It lays 6-12 creamy white eggs.
Range
Breeds in the northernmost areas of North America: in Canada in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Alaska, and the Northwest Territories and the Great Lakes. This dabbling duck is strongly migratory and winters further south than its breeding range as south as in Texas and Louisiana coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a rare but regular vagrant to western Europe.
Resources
