Species

Gadwall

Mareca strepera

A quietly patterned grey-brown duck that is easy to overlook until you see the fine detail of its feathers.

Photo Luke (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 46 to 57 cm long
Weight: About 650 to 1,100 g
Habitat: Marshes, ponds, reservoirs and coastal impoundments with plenty of aquatic plants
Diet: Mostly leaves and stems of aquatic plants
In Georgia: A common winter visitor, October to March
Voice: Males give a short, burping "nheck"; females quack
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Male: Finely patterned grey body; black rear end; brown head; small white wing patch
Female: Mottled brown like a female mallard but with an orange-sided bill and a white wing patch
Told apart from: Mallard, whose female has a blue wing patch edged in white and an orange-and-black bill
Told apart from: American wigeon, whose male has a white crown and green eye patch
Where to look: Ponds and marshes with plenty of floating and submerged plants

Behaviour

Gadwall feed on plants at or just below the surface, and often feed alongside diving ducks and coots, picking up the plants those birds bring up from deeper water.

Why they matter

Gadwall rely more on aquatic plants than most dabbling ducks, so they thrive where wetlands are healthy enough to grow them. Their numbers have increased as some wetlands have been restored, and they are a sign of good submerged vegetation.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A bowl of grass and down hidden in dense vegetation, often on islands
Eggs — Usually 8 to 12
Incubation — About 24 to 27 days
Ducklings — Leave the nest within a day
Flight — At about seven weeks
Lifespan — Usually a few years; some over fifteen

Living around people

Gadwall are wary and keep to open water, but city ponds with good plant growth attract them in winter.
Bread and scraps are poor food for any duck.

Misconceptions

Plain ducks are all female mallards. Many are gadwall, whose males are grey rather than brightly coloured.

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 on the northern prairies	Ducklings hatching	Adults moulting	Young flying	Migration begins	Arriving in Georgia	Wintering flocks	Wintering

Where it lives

Recorded in 83 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

If you found one

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