Species

American wigeon

Mareca americana

A round-headed duck with a white crown and a whistled call, which grazes on land as readily as it feeds on water.

Photo Frank Schulenburg (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 42 to 59 cm long
Weight: About 500 to 1,300 g
Habitat: Marshes, ponds, lakes, coastal impoundments and grassy fields near water
Diet: Aquatic plants, grasses and grain
In Georgia: A fairly common winter visitor, October to March
Voice: Males give a breathy, three-part whistle, "whee-WHEE-whew"
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Male: White crown; green patch behind the eye; pinkish-brown body; white patch on the forewing
Female: Grey head, warm brown sides, short blue-grey bill with a black tip
Told apart from: Gadwall, which has a white patch on the rear of the wing and no white crown
Told apart from: Eurasian wigeon, a rare visitor, whose male has a rusty head
Where to look: Open water and grassy edges of ponds and marshes

Behaviour

Wigeon graze on land like small geese and also take plants from the water, often stealing them from diving ducks and coots as they surface. They form noisy flocks in winter.

Why they matter

With its short, goose-like bill, the wigeon can graze grasses and pluck plants that other dabbling ducks cannot reach easily. Its habit of taking food from diving birds shows how closely different waterbirds share a single wetland.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A down-lined bowl in grass, often some way from water
Eggs — Usually 6 to 12
Incubation — About 23 to 25 days
Ducklings — Leave the nest within a day
Flight — At about six to seven weeks
Lifespan — Usually a few years

Living around people

Wigeon graze lawns and golf courses beside water in winter and do no harm there.
Feeding bread gathers flocks that crowd and foul small ponds.

Misconceptions

Wigeon are geese because they graze. They are ducks with goose-like feeding habits.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering	Pairs forming	Migrating north	Last birds leaving	Nesting across northern North America	Ducklings hatching	Adults moulting	Young flying	Migration begins	Arriving in Georgia	Wintering flocks	Wintering

Where it lives

Recorded in 87 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

United States

Canada

If you found one

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