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Fun Facts
Did You Know?
Eurasian Wigeon — The rare Eurasian cousin (Mareca penelope) is a legitimate rarity in Louisiana worth looking for in any large wigeon flock. The drake Eurasian has a rufous-chestnut head and a buffy-cream forehead — completely different from the American drake's white crown and green mask. Female Eurasian wigeons are very difficult to separate from female Americans; the underwing is the most reliable field mark, with the Eurasian showing gray-speckled axillars where the American shows white. If you find a drake that looks wrong in a wigeon flock, document it
If This Animal Could Talk...
"Watch closely, respect my space, and let my habitat explain the rest of the story."
The drake American wigeon (Mareca americana) is one of the louder ducks in a North Louisiana winter marsh, one of the most theatrical about it, and — if you are a coot — one of the more annoying neighbors available. The head is a study in contrast — white forehead and crown running from bill to crown like a bad dye job, iridescent green mask sweeping from eye to nape, the rest of the face and neck buffy with dark speckling.
The nickname is baldpate, which is rude but accurate. From a distance the white crown reads white and bright against any background, and the male's three-note whistle carries across open water in a way that announces him before you can see him.
A Few More Facts
How they hunt and forage: The wigeon positions himself near a diving bird, watches it surface, and grabs the vegetation before the diver can eat it. They eat more terrestrial vegetation than most ducks: waste grain in harvested fields, pasture grass, winter wheat, clover, lettuce when available. This terrestrial feeding behavior is more developed in wigeons than in most other dabbling ducks.
Live birth or eggs? no
When young are born: See the detailed species sections below.
Photo Gallery
What Is the American Wigeon Often Confused With?
The drake in breeding plumage leads with the head. White forehead and crown — the baldpate — running from the base of the bill back to the crown. Iridescent dark green mask surrounding the eye and extending back toward the nape. The rest of the head and neck is buffy with heavy black speckling, giving the head an overall patterned appearance that is unlike any other dabbling duck in the region. The breast and flanks are pinkish-brown, contrasting with the white belly and white flank patches. Under-tail coverts are black. In flight, the large white shoulder patch on each upper wing is the defining field mark — a bright white flash visible from considerable distance as the bird banks and turns.
Drag the handle left and right to compare American Wigeon side by side with the species it gets mistaken for most.
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Accessibility
Accessibility
The male wigeon's whistle is loud enough and distinctive enough to identify the species from a vehicle at a WMA levee road without binoculars. In a flock of winter wigeons, the calling is nearly continuous, and the three-note pattern is audible over considerable distances in calm conditions. This makes the wigeon one of the more acoustically accessible winter ducks for visitors with limited vision — the call announces the species, the location, and the relative flock size without any visual confirmation required.
The white crown of the male is visible at significant distance through binoculars from road access points. The large white wing patches visible in flight when birds flush from an impoundment are identifiable at long range, and a flushing wigeon flock flashing white on both wings is unmistakable at distances where individual bird detail is unavailable. Levee roads at managed impoundments provide vehicle-accessible observation throughout the winter months.
D'Arbonne NWR, Boeuf WMA, and Catahoula NWR all have road access that allows productive wigeon observation without leaving the vehicle, which is particularly useful on cold mornings when the birds are active and the white crowns are lit up and the males are whistling and the whole unit sounds like it is very happy to see you, which it is not, but you can pretend.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does American Wigeon live in North Louisiana?
Yes. The drake American wigeon (Mareca americana) is one of the louder ducks in a North Louisiana winter marsh, one of the most theatrical about it, and — if you are a coot — one of the more annoying neighbors available. The American wigeon is one of the more reliably kleptoparasitic ducks in North Louisiana — a bird that has figured out that coots and diving ducks are, in effect, working for him. North Louisiana gets American wigeons from October through April, with peak numbers through the winter months.
How do you identify American Wigeon?
The drake in breeding plumage leads with the head. White forehead and crown — the baldpate — running from the base of the bill back to the crown. Iridescent dark green mask surrounding the eye and extending back toward the nape. The rest of the head and neck is buffy with heavy black speckling, giving the head an overall patterned appearance that is unlike any other dabbling duck in the region
What does American Wigeon eat?
The wigeon positions himself near a diving bird, watches it surface, and grabs the vegetation before the diver can eat it. They eat more terrestrial vegetation than most ducks: waste grain in harvested fields, pasture grass, winter wheat, clover, lettuce when available. This terrestrial feeding behavior is more developed in wigeons than in most other dabbling ducks
Is American Wigeon dangerous to people?
American wigeons breed primarily in the boreal forest and subarctic river deltas of Alaska and western Canada — farther north than most Prairie Pothole dabbling ducks, which is why less is known about their nesting ecology than the "big five" species that have been intensively studied in the prairie region
