General

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 and belly is white. Bill is blue-gray with black tip. Wings have white shoulder patches and green specula visible in flight. Female is orange washed gray-brown overall with heavy mottling and speckling; belly is white. Juvenile resembles female but is browner. Eclipse male resembles female but is much brighter rufous-brown and retains white shoulder patches.

Range and Habitat

Eurasian Wigeon: Breeds from Iceland, the British Isles, and Scandinavia east to eastern Siberia and Kamchatka, and south to northern Europe, central Russia, and northern China. Occasional winter visitor to the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to northern Baja California and the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Labrador and Newfoundland south to Florida and west to southern Texas. Preferred habitats include marshes, ponds, lakes, and tidal flats.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"whee-oo", "chreep"

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.

 They are known to breed only in Europe and Asia, although they are likely to be found breeding in North America eventually.

 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.

 A group of ducks has many collective nouns, including a "brace", "flush", "paddling", "raft", and "team" of ducks.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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