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| Eurasian Wigeon | ||||||||||||||
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| Anas penelope Linnaeus, 1758 |
The Wigeon or Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) is a common and widespread duck which breeds in the northernmost areas of Europe and Asia. It is the Old World counterpart of the North American American Wigeon.
This dabbling duckDabbling Ducks : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Anseriformes : Anatidae Subfamily†: Anatinae Genera Pteronetta ''Cairina ''Aix ''Lophonetta ''Nettapus ''Salvadorina ''Anas ''Callonetta ''Chenonetta ''Amazonetta † See also Diving duck The dabbl is strongly migratoryLong-distance land bird migration Many species of land birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the southern he and winters further south than its breeding range. It highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks.
The breeding male has grey flanks and back, with a black rear end and a brilliant white speculummallard hen. The speculum feathers comprise the patch of white-edged blue. The speculum feathers are the inner (secondary) flight feathers of a duck. They are often brightly coloured, especially in dabbling ducks, and can help to identify a duck in flight, obvious in flight or at rest. It has a pink breast, white belly, and a chestnut head with a yellowish crown stripe.
The females are light brown, with plumage much like a female MallardThis article is about the Mallard duck. For info on the famous locomotive of the same name see Mallard (locomotive), or for the band see Mallard (band). The Mallard Anas platyrhynchos is a common and widespread dabbling duck which breeds throughout the te. They can be distinguished from most ducks, apart from American Wigeon on shape. However, that species has a paler head and white axillaries on its underwing.
In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.
It is a bird of open wetlands, such as wet grassland or marshes with some taller vegetation, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing, which it does very readily. It nests on the ground, near water and under cover.
This is a noisy species. The male has a clear whistle, whereas the female has a low growl.