Species: Anas americana

American Wigeon

Species

Birds

Show on Lists

Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae

Genus

Anas

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104824

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Pato Chalcuán - canard d'Amérique

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Waterfowl

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Anseriformes - Anatidae - Anas - Occasional hybrids between A. AMERICANA and A. PENELOPE have been reported (AOU 1983). See Livezey (1991) for a phylogenetic analysis and classification (supergenera, subgenera, infragenera, etc.) of dabbling ducks based on comparative morphology.

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - false - true - Migrates slowly northward through U.S. March-April, arriving in northern nesting areas April-May (late May-early June in Beaufort Sea region). Migrates southward in fall. Present in Puerto Rico and Colombia (uncommon) October-April, Costa Rica October-March (may leave early in very dry years) (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Migrates in small dense flocks. In late spring or early summer, males make long-distance molt migrations to marshes with broad expanses of open water.

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Feeds on leaves, stems, buds, and some seeds of pondweeds, wigeon grass, grasses, and sedges. Forges in shallow water and grazes in fields. May also some snails, beetles, and crickets (Terres 1980).

Reproduction Comments

Breeding begins early May in south to early June in north. Clutch size is 6-12 (usually 9-11). Incubation, by female, lasts 22-24 days (Terres 1980). Young are tended by female, independent in about 6-7 weeks (Harrison 1978).

Length

Weight

792

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-21

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-21

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: mainly Alaska east to Manitoba, south to northeastern California, northern Nevada, northern Colorado, northern Nebraska, northern Minnesota. NORTHERN WINTER: mainly southern Alaska-Mexico; central U.S. to southern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley; Nova Scotia south along coast to Gulf of Mexico, West Indies, Panama, northern Colombia, Trinidad, rarely northwestern Venezuela; uncommon but regular in Hawaii. In the U.S., the highest winter densities generally occur in the coastal Pacific Northwest and the vicinity of the Texas-New Mexico border (Root 1988).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104824