Eurasian Wigeon

The Eurasian Wigeon is a medium-sized dabbling duck breeding across northern Europe and Asia and wintering across a broad range further south, including parts of Africa and southern Asia. It is the Old World counterpart to the American Wigeon, and the two occasionally occur together, especially in western North America during migration and winter.

Males show a rich chestnut-colored head with a pale cream stripe running down the center of the crown, set above a warm vinous-pink breast and grey flanks, all fairly similar in overall design to the American Wigeon but with different color tones.

Feathers of this species are best distinguished from the American Wigeon by their grey (rather than white) axillary or underwing feathers, along with the warmer chestnut head tone rather than the American Wigeon's cooler grey-brown head.

Size and shape

• Medium-sized dabbling-duck contour and flight feathers, very similar in size and shape to American Wigeon
• Large white patch of upperwing covert feathers in males, similar in extent to the American Wigeon's

Color and pattern

• Male head feathers rich chestnut-red, with a pale cream to buffy stripe running down the crown
• Male breast feathers vinous-pink, flank feathers grey, contrasting with a white belly
• Upperwing covert feathers white in males, forming a bold patch, bordered by a green speculum
• Axillary (underwing) feathers grey in both sexes, a key difference from American Wigeon's white axillaries

Distinguishing from similar species

• Compare with American Wigeon: Eurasian Wigeon shows a warmer chestnut head and grey axillary feathers, versus the American's greyer head and white axillaries
• Female Eurasian Wigeon tends to show warmer, more reddish-brown tones than the somewhat greyer-headed female American Wigeon

Breeding males show a chestnut head with a cream crown stripe, vinous-pink breast, grey flanks, and a white belly, with a pale blue-grey bill tipped black. Females are warm reddish-brown overall, generally a touch warmer-toned than female American Wigeon. Males undergo an eclipse molt after breeding, briefly resembling females. All undergo a flightless period during wing molt.

Breeds across northern Europe and Asia in lakes, marshes, and tundra wetlands, and winters across a broad range including western Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, and southern Asia, with regular but scarce occurrences in North America, especially along the Pacific coast. It favors lakes, estuaries, and coastal marshes in winter. Most populations are migratory.

Feeds by grazing on aquatic vegetation and grasses, often in mixed flocks with other wigeon or dabbling ducks, and readily grazes on land near water. Nests on the ground in vegetation near water. Voice includes a distinctive whistled call in males, similar in style to the American Wigeon's whistle but often described as slightly different in tone. When found outside its normal Old World range, a Eurasian Wigeon feather is most reliably separated from American Wigeon by its grey rather than white axillary feathers.