American Wigeon

While researching information about Wigeons I found out there is an American and a European Wigeon. I don't magine there is much difference in the two birds but we'll speak about the American Wigeon in this article.

The average length of an adult male American Wigeon is about one and one half feet and weighs about two pounds. The color of the adult male is a drab brown with a smoke colored head and an ivory crown. The male displays a glazed green strip on the side of his head and ivory white spots on the front part of his wings. On the wings you will notice the black and green stripes and his beak is blue with an ebony colored tip and has a wingspan of almost one foot.

The adult females American Wigeon is slightly smaller in length and weighs less than the male and her colors are similar. The young birds are similar in appearance to adult females and smaller. Both the male and female American Wigeon show a smoky blue to dusky colored legs and feet.

By the month of November males and females begin pairing and complete the pairing by spring. Shortly a courtship begins.

During the courtship a drake delivers a call along with preliminary shaking, trimming and dressing his wing feathers and twists his head back and forth. Sometimes when courting the female, the male will make a short flight or a chase flight. Mating happens on lakes, ponds or other appropriate marine region. They will mate in upland tall grass like sedge and bulrush near water. Once she accepts him the male swims up behind female and mounts her.

The American Wigeon nests farther north than any other dabbling duck except the Northern Pintail Duck. They breed throughout Canada in Northern Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories. In the United States the bird nests in Alaska. Sometimes during the spring and fall migration the Wigeons visit Northern Illinois.

Nesting begins in the middle of the month of May until the middle of June. If a predator destroys their nest they may build another nest. The Wigeons generally nests in upland grassy area. The preferred nesting area is a place that has a variety of dense, grassy plants in a marshy area. In a nesting area of 100 acres there may be from three to five pairs per acre.

After mating and nest building the female American Wigeon lays an average of nine eggs. About 3 1/2 weeks later the eggs hatch but only some of the eggs hatch and survive.

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