Eurasian Wigeon

Overview

Eurasian Wigeon: Large dabbling duck with gray back and finely speckled gray flanks. Head is dark rufous-brown with buff crown and forehead; breast, neck and upper back are pale rufous brown, belly is white. Wings have white shoulder patches and green specula visible in flight. Gray legs, feet.

Range and Habitat

Eurasian Wigeon: Breeds from Iceland, British Isles, and Scandinavia to eastern Siberia and Kamchatka, and south to northern Europe, central Russia, and northern China. May visit the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California and the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Labrador and Newfoundland south to Florida and west to southern Texas. Prefers marshes, ponds, lakes, and tidal flats.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Eurasian Wigeon is unorthodox in its feeding habits: It spends much of its time grazing on land like a goose and also loiters around feeding flocks of diving ducks, snatching food from them when they bob back to the surface. Their numbers in North America have increased in recent decades, which may be due to increased reporting, or to an actual increase of birds. Hybrids with American Wigeons have been recorded. They are known to breed only in Europe and Asia, although they are likely to be found breeding in North America eventually. A group of ducks has many collective nouns, including a "brace", "flush", "paddling", "raft", and "team" of ducks.