Bird of the Month: Eurasian Wigeon
Written by Andy McCormick
Andy McCormick, Volunteer and Former Board President of Eastside Audubon
Eurasian Wigeon has become a more regular winter visitor to Washington. One to two or more can most often be found in a flock of American Wigeon.
The Eurasian Wigeon is similar in size and structure to American Wigeon (M. americana). The male is overall a dusky, pale gray with a chestnut head and neck, pinkish-gray chest, and white belly. The head is accented with a pale creamy yellow blaze and frontal crown. The female is difficult to distinguish from the female American Wigeon, and is an overall dull, brown color on the neck and chest, but lighter brown on the flanks and back. However, the head of the female is often a more reddish-brown than that of the female American. Both sexes have a gray bill.
The loud, WHEEoo call of male Eurasian Wigeons is very different from the two-note whistle of American Wigeon, and it will stand out in a flock. Females make a short quacking sound. Photos, videos, and vocalizations of Eurasian Wigeon can be enjoyed at The Macaulay Library
Eurasian wigeon
Scientific Name: Mareca penelope
Length: 20”
Wingspan: 32”
Weight: 1.5 oz (690 g)
AOU Alpha Code: EUWI
BREEDING AND HYBRIDIZATION
Eurasian Wigeons breed near ponds in boreal forest and around temperate lakes over a wide range across Europe and Asia. They nest in a depression on the ground which is lined with grass and down. Usually 8-9 eggs are deposited, then incubated by the female for about four weeks. Once hatched, the young leave the nest and move to water attended by the female. First flight will occur in about six weeks. (Kaufman).
Eurasian and American Wigeons hybridize frequently. Hybrids have a mixture of traits and often have reddish heads and brown sides and flanks. Eurasian Wigeons have also hybridized with Mallards.
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURANCE
Eurasian Wigeons breed and winter from Iceland in the west, across Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, to south and southeast Asia from Kyrgyzstan and India to southern China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, North and South Korea, and Japan. They also inhabit northern Asia east to Kamchatka in eastern Russia. Eurasian Wigeons which reach western North America are often from the Kamchatka region. They also reach eastern North America from Iceland. In fall, Eurasian Wigeons migrate to southern Asia and through the Mediterranean to winter in ponds and coastal bays. Those that reach the Pacific Northwest are also found in similar locations in British Columbia and Alaska and other Pacific states.
A NOTE ON TAXONOMY
The three wigeon species: Eurasian (M. penelope), American (M. americana), and the South American Chiloe (M. sibilatrix) form a superspecies, meaning they are anatomically very similar but have recognizable differences. In 2017, the American Ornithological Society Committee on Classification and Nomenclature reclassified the three wigeons and joined them with their closest evolutionary relatives, Gadwall (M. strepera) and Falcated Duck (M. falcata) in the genus Mareca. This genus was introduced in 1824 by English naturalist James Francis Stephens, when he named the Eurasian Wigeon. “The name of the genus is from the Portuguese word Marreco for a small duck” (Wikipedia). The species epithet, penelope is likely from the Greek penelops, a type of goose or duck, referencing Penelope, the wife of Odysseus (Ulysses), of Greek mythology, who was said to have been saved from drowning by ducks (Holloway).
Photo credit: Betsy Matsubara/Flickr (CC BY-2.0)
References available upon request from amccormick@eastsideaudubon.org.