Species: Anas americana
American Wigeon
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Anseriformes
Family
Anatidae
Genus
Anas
NatureServe
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
48
Weight
792
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-21
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-21
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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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
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)